War medals: Tell it to the Marines

[thedrifter]

MITCH CHASE

War medals: Tell it to the Marines

A Purple Heart for a scratch that might have been self-inflicted; a Bronze Star for turning around to pick up somebody who fell off the boat; and a Silver Star for gunning down a wounded (and apparently fleeing) Viet Cong: Even if you're not a Republican (or a Swift Boat veteran), these aren't exactly acts of gore and heroism of the Audie Murphy/John Wayne class.

But John Kerry certainly was out where the bullets were flying (no shadow has been cast on at least one of his Purple Hearts), and deserves great respect for putting his life in harm's way in the service of his country.

And, in fairness, the medals the young Navy lieutenant received should not be judged by World War II standards, but rather in the context of the Vietnam conflict, which gave rise to the term "medal inflation."

"The Army and Navy grossly inflated awards, and it sunk to a new low at that period of time," writes retired Col. David Hackworth, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and an outspoken critic of medal inflation.

"In Vietnam, a dog was awarded the Bronze Star," Hackworth adds.

In the current conflict in Iraq, medal inflation has again emerged as an issue, with considerable criticism of most military branches for lowering the requisites for awarding medals, demeaning their value for everyone.

Hackworth calls it "a sick, out-of-control system that desperately needs overhauling."

Scripps Howard News Service reported that among the current crop of Bronze Star recipients are "an Army captain ... who supervised the distribution of 3,500 maps to his battalion"; "five submarine commanders, whose sailors lobbed cruise missiles at Iraqi targets hundreds of miles away"; and "a senior chaplain who produced 236 worship services at three locations, passed out hundreds of Bibles and rebuilt a park for Iraqi children."

By February of this year, according to MSNBC, the Air Force had given out "more than 69,000 awards and other honors," including 1,900 Bronze Stars, and the Army some 40,000 medals, including more than 13,000 Bronze Stars.

Critics of the Iraq war claim medal inflation is a common occurrence in "unpopular wars," citing as precedents Vietnam and the large number of Iron Crosses awarded by the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front during World War II.

Hackworth, however, sees a different pattern.

"In the latter days of the Korean War and in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm and Somalia, such abuses of military honors increased with each battle," he writes, adding that "in Grenada, more medals were awarded than there were soldiers on that tiny island."

Scripps reported that in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which had immense public support, some "27,000 meritorious Bronze Stars were awarded — nearly as many as were handed out during the Korean War and many more than in the ongoing Iraq operation, which has been longer and bloodier."

Even America's most well-known soldier in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Jessica Lynch, is not immune from medal inflation criticism. Lynch, whose capture and rescue made her a national figure, was originally poised to receive the Silver Star, America's third-highest award for valor. When it turned out that Lynch was no more than a glorified crash victim — which she readily admits — the award was reduced to Bronze.

One branch of the military, however, seems immune from medal inflation: the United States Marine Corps.

By February, according to MSNBC, the Marines had awarded just a little more than 1,000 medals, including 200 Bronze Stars, although they also had "a good number of medals in the pipeline."

The Marines, of course, are a different breed. Just being one means you're part of an elite force with a long and proud tradition.

The Marines do it the hard way, even when it comes to medals.

Mitch Chase is a DAILY copy editor. His e-mail address is mchase@decaturdaily.com.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/columnists/mitchchase/040921.shtml


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines receive awards for heroics
By Jim Ash

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, September 20, 2004

Three Marines just doing their jobs, three coveted Bronze Star medals for heroism under fire.

The 4th Air/Naval Gunfire Liaison Company in suburban West Palm Beach held a deceptively simple ceremony Sunday to honor three of its own, recently back from Iraq, with one of the military's top combat awards.

Staff Sgt. Derrick Leath, 30; Maj. James Purmort, 34; and Staff Sgt. Andre Rivera, 29, stood ramrod straight during a 25-minute ceremony as they were awarded medals for doing what the company does best — deciphering the chaos of battle and directing a high-tech and deadly response.

Dressed in crisp desert camouflage, Purmort, an insurance agent and football coach at Sarasota High School in his civilian life, recalled the April siege of a compound in central Iraq that held about 80 U.S. and coalition troops that was in danger of being overrun.

Insurgents loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were staging an uprising following a decision by Coalition Provisional Authority officials to shut down his radical newspaper.

"The compound was on a river and they (the troops) were taking mortar fire from the other side," Purmort said. "Basically, they couldn't get out."

From a base about a mile away that was also under sniper and mortar attack, Purmort took battle reports from the encircled compound, gathered information on enemy positions and directed precision attacks from U.S. gunships and fighter jets.

Going without sleep for 60 hours, and at one point working through a translator with a Ukrainian general, Purmort also helped direct a rescue mission that successfully evacuated the base with armored personnel carriers.

"It would have been really bad if it fell under their terms," Purmort said of the insurgents.

Leath, of Coral Springs, said he is studying to become a federal law enforcement officer. He braved enemy gunfire while directing air attacks from his perch on the roof of a six-story building in a besieged compound in south-central Iraq. Leath was part of a firepower control team with the call sign Lightning 2-0, for its ability to rain precision-guided bombs on the enemy.

Leath's team rushed into the base as it was being evacuated and in danger of falling to the Mahdi Army, al-Sadr's militia.

"When we got there, there was immediate fire," Leath said. "They were trying to overrun the base. There were times that we had mortars that landed very close. Everybody that comes back from Iraq knows what mortar fire is."

Rivera, of Boynton Beach, declined to be interviewed.

Purmort and Leath insisted that they share the credit with their team members.

"I would give this medal and all of my medals back," Leath said, "if it would bring one Marine home who has lost his life."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2004/09/20/a5b_bronze_0920.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sailors attain 'Chief' status while deployed to Iraq <br />
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing <br />
Story Identification #: 2004920174533 <br />
Story by Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri <br />
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<br />
AL ASAD, Iraq (Sep. 17,...

[thedrifter]

MWSS-373 fire brigade on alert to combat flames <br />
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing <br />
Story Identification #: 200492017941 <br />
Story by Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri <br />
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<br />
<br />
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Sep. 20,...

[thedrifter]

Lejeune artillerymen provide security for Marine camps in Iraq
Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group
Story Identification #: 200492093237
Story by Sgt. Enrique S. Diaz



CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Sept. 20, 2004) -- The artillerymen of 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, have placed their cannons aside and picked up their rifles to provide security for I Marine Expeditionary Force units operating throughout the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.

The Camp Lejeune-based battalion replaced 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a reserve infantry unit headquartered out of St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 20, 2004.

The rotation was part of the seven-month deployment for Marine Corps units operating in Iraq. Both units are assigned to the 1st Force Service Support Group, responsible for providing logistical support to all Marine forces operating in Iraq.

The Marines of 2/10, who refer to themselves as "Second to None," have stepped out of their traditional role as "cannon-cockers," and into the role of provisional riflemen.

The battalion has spent the past seven months training for this mission, said Lt. Col. Terrance P. Brennan, commanding officer of 2/10.

"Marines and sailors of 2/10 are motivated and up to the tasks at hand," said the 44-year-old, Norfolk, Va., native.

The incoming unit has big boots to fill, building on the foundation 3/24 has lain. The Marines of 3/24 have worked around the clock conducting daily patrols and providing security for convoys operating within I Marine Expeditionary Force's area of operations.

Since February, the battalion successfully kept the enemy from penetrating the perimeter of various Marine camps in Iraq.

Recently, 3/24's Company K fought off insurgents speeding toward Abu Ghurayb prison in two vehicles - one mounted with a machine gun, the other a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. The Marines responded immediately, preventing the VBIED from reaching the base. A quick-reaction force's assessment of the damage included seven captured insurgents, an unspecified number of kills, seizure of the automatic weapons and eleven 155 mm artillery shells.

"We are able to respond to anything they (enemy forces) put out there," said Lt. Col. Roderick T. Arrington, commanding officer of 3/24 and 43-year-old Oscoda, Mich., native.

During their seven-month stay here, 3/24 also conducted many civil affairs missions in neighboring Iraqi villages - a mission 2/10 continues.

As a result of 3/24's efforts, neighboring villages have electricity, new water pumps and pipelines for clean water and refurbished schools.

Civil affairs missions help the Iraqis see that Marines are here to improve their way of life, said Cpl. Andrew L. Powell, a machine gunner with 2/10 and 22-year-old native of Raleigh, N.C.

Whether providing security or aiding local villages, the sum of 2/10's mission equates to one final objective: to bring stability to a country once gripped by fear.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200492095626/$file/Helmet040904_Low.jpg

Maj. Timothy Parker, the executive officer for 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, places his helmet on an inquisitive Iraqi boy during a visit to a run-down village Sept. 4, 2004. Before the Marines arrived, the village had no basic utilities, such as running water and electricity. That changed when 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, the unit Parker's battalion will replace in late September, began providing aid to the impoverished people. During their seven-month tenure here, 3/24 conducted many civil affairs missions in neighboring Iraqi villages - a mission 2/10, traditionally an artillery unit now serving as a provisional infantry unit, will continue throughout the next seven months. The rotation is part of the regularly scheduled seven-month deployment for Marine Corps units operating in Iraq. Both units are assigned to the 1st Force Service Support Group, which is responsible for providing logistical support to all Marine forces operating in Iraq. Second Battalion, Tenth Marine Regiment, is based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. Parker is a 38-year-old native of Massapequa Park, N.Y. Photo by: Sgt. Enrique S. Diaz

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/618754F600ED291385256F15004A6613?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines capture known terrorist insurgent
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20049216956
Story by Cpl. Matthew R. Jones



AL QAIM, Iraq (Sept. 10, 2004) -- Leaving the base shortly after midnight, Marines drove through the quiet desert of Iraq to a secured location. There, they began to patrol through the city of Al Qaim on foot.

The Marines from Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, conducted a patrol through the city in the early morning hours of Sept. 10, capturing a valued insurgent target.

Accompanying the Marines from Company C were Marines from 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, who have been operating in the area for the last seven months.

"The 3/7 Marines know the area well and know how to navigate the area in a tactful manner," said Cpl. Matt C. Michel, 20, a native of Morgan City, La., and a team leader from 1/7.

With the experience of 3/7 to assist them, the Marines were ready to complete their assigned tasks.

"My team's mission was to set up the observation posts covering the area around the house," said Michel. "The other team actually conducted the search for the targets."

With the Marines in position, the Marines cordoned off and breached an entrance into the house.

Inside of the house, the Marines detained three adult males, one being a high valued target, and began to search the house. A shop with equipment to make false identification cards and materials for improvised explosive devices was also found inside.

After the search was complete and the detainees were in custody, the Marines called for the vehicle convoy to come and pick them up.

"The mission was a success. The high value target was detained and there were no causalities," said Cpl. Todd A. Gaines, 27, team leader and native of Evansville, Ind.

In addition to the capture of a known terrorist insurgent, the Marines were able to get a feel for the terrain they would be working in.

"I am glad that we were able to get out and complete our mission. It really makes being out here easier when there is a positive outcome," said Lance Cpl. Rick. N. Santini, 20, a rifleman and native of Port Jervis, N.J.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200492163623/$file/Cordon5lr.jpg

Marines from Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, pause before conducting a cordon and knock on a known terrorist insurgents residence during the early morning of Sept. 10. Members of Company L, 3/7, accompanied Company C in order to provide the tactical knowledge they had learned during their seven months in the area in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
(Official USMC photo by Cpl. Matthew R. Jones)
Photo by: Cpl. Matthew R. Jones

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/AE18DC86D56B224285256F160037D782?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Classic Guerrilla War Forming In Iraq
Christian Science Monitor
September 21, 2004


War is never by the books. Adversaries learn and adapt. The political climate shifts on both sides. Loyalties and alliances couple and decouple. The civilian populace - caught in the crossfire - often remains passive just to survive.

To many experts, the conflict in Iraq has entered a new phase that resembles a classic guerrilla war with U.S. forces now involved in counterinsurgency. And despite the lack of ideological cohesion among insurgent groups, history suggests that it could take as long as a decade to defeat them.

"Guerrilla warfare is the most underrated and the most successful form of warfare in human history," says Ivan Eland, a specialist on national security at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. "It is a defensive type of war against a foreign invader. If the guerrillas don't lose, they win. The objective is to wait out your opponent until he goes home."

From the Filipino insurrection during the Spanish-American War to Vietnam to El Salvador, American troops have had plenty of experience in fighting home-grown enemies that look nothing like a conventional army. As have France in Algeria, Britain in Malaysia and Northern Ireland, Israel in the occupied territories.

Though "counterinsurgency" calls up memories of Vietnam, there may be as many differences as similarities. Different from Vietnam

Iraqi insurgents have no means of deploying battalion-size forces, as North Vietnam and the Viet Cong did with help from the former Soviet Union. Iraq won't become a proxy conflict between superpowers, as the Vietnam War was. There is a heavy criminal dimension to the violence in Iraq, just as there has been in Algeria, Colombia, and Chechnya. And there is unlikely to be a negotiated resolution as long as Iraq is seen as part of the broader war on terrorism.

Still, Iraqi insurgents have the advantage of terrain - not jungles but an urban setting. They appear to have at least the passive support of many Iraqis. It's often difficult to tell the fighters from innocent civilians. And they try to force American forces to overreact, causing civilian casualties and consequent outrage.

"No two insurgencies are alike," says retired Army Col. Dan Smith of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. "Except that they are violent affairs in which noncombatants tend to suffer most and national infrastructure tends to be destroyed."

Since early April, when the health ministry in Baghdad began keeping figures, some 3,200 civilians (not including Iraqi police or insurgents) have been killed - some in terrorist attacks, some by the U.S.-led coalition. On average, insurgents now are attacking U.S. forces 87 times a day. More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped, and some 30 of those killed. Attacks on oil pipelines are occurring nearly every day now. Four insurgencies

In fact, Iraq at the moment has four simultaneous insurgencies: Sunni tribalists, former Saddam regime loyalists, fighters loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and foreign jihadists.

"Most importantly, the insurgents haven't made much effort to develop a coherent political program or identify a leadership," says Professor Steven Metz of the U.S. Army War College. "I see this as their most serious weakness."

Still, they do have a common enemy: those they see as foreign occupiers, not liberators.

Within the U.S. military, much of the debate over how to deal with insurgencies revolves around one assertion: "No more Vietnams."

Army Lt. Col. Robert Cassidy, who has served in Iraq and is now stationed in Germany, notes that the U.S. military "has had a host of successful experiences in counterguerrilla war, including some distinct successes with certain aspects of the Vietnam War."

But, he writes in a recent issue of the Army journal Parameters, "Because the experience was perceived as anathema to the mainstream American military, hard lessons learned there about fighting guerrillas were neither embedded nor preserved in the U.S. Army's institutional memory." How to win: the hard lessons

"Unconventional war" in fact has been studied, trained for, and practiced for more than 40 years. But fighting guerrillas doesn't necessarily allow for the best use of the largest, most technologically advanced armed force in human history. Nor does it always address the real basis for defeating an insurgency, which rests more on political, cultural, and economic factors. Other militarily dominant countries have learned this as well.

"In many aspects, the French counterinsurgency effort typified the frustrations faced by modern powers in a classic unconventional conflict," states a U.S. Marine Corps training document. "Like the U.S. in Vietnam, the French in Algeria were unable to transform military successes (of which there were many) into a political victory." Challenges for U.S. forces

Defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute sees two basic defects in the U.S.-led counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq today.

"First, policymakers wrongly assume that Sunni Arabs can be induced to join in a democratic government where they are assured of permanent minority status," says Dr. Thompson, who supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq. "Second, policymakers insist on viewing violence through the prism of the war on global terrorism, which obscures the sources of conflict and requirements for victory." Thompson's controversial answer would be to partition Iraq into three countries: Sunni Arab, Shiite Arab, and Kurd.

That U.S. military planners did not adequately plan for an organized Iraqi resistance that would become an insurgency reflects a way of thinking that has often afflicted governments and militaries, says RAND Corp. analyst Bruce Hoffman, who spent a month this year in Baghdad advising the Coalition Provisional Authority on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. Problem unleashed

What this amounts to, writes Dr. Hoffman in a recent RAND paper, is "the failure not only to recognize the incipient conditions for insurgency, but also to ignore its nascent manifestations and arrest its growth before it is able to gain initial traction and in turn momentum."

With the insurgency apparently gaining traction and momentum, such criticisms now are coming from prominent Republicans in Congress. "The lack of planning is apparent," Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana said last week. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) Nebraska, a decorated infantry squad leader in Vietnam, says the recently announced shifting of reconstruction funds to security is "an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble."

Classified British documents, reported in the Daily Telegraph newspaper over the weekend, warned a year before the invasion of Iraq that even if a democratic government could be created there, "it would require the U.S. and others to commit to nation-building for many years" and that this would "entail a substantial international security force." What a few can do

Even if the insurgents dwindle to a handful of terrorists, their impact on security and stability in Iraq could far outweigh their numbers. RAND's Hoffman points out that just 20-30 members of the Baader Meinhof Gang terrorized the former West Germany for two decades; 50-75 Red Brigadists did the same in Italy; and some 200-400 IRA gunmen and bombers required the prolonged deployment of tens of thousands of British troops in Northern Ireland.

Is it possible to prevail over the Iraqi insurgency?

First, says John Pike of the group GlobalSecurity.org, enemy combatants must be killed, captured, or demoralized faster than new ones can be recruited, and the majority of the population must come to see the insurgency as illegitimate and its defeat as inevitable.

It's a tough job, one that's likely to take years - as long as 10 years, says Dr. Metz at the Army War College. And the outcome is by no means assured.

"The government must appear to be legitimate, inevitable, and effective at providing security and services," says Mr. Pike. "As long as Iran does not stir the pot, these objectives could be approached by the end of this decade, with luck."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines end tour in Iraq



By Jim Skeen
Staff Writer


EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- With their loved ones holding up banners and balloons, 120 Marines were welcomed home Monday after a 7-month tour in Iraq.
After seven months at Al Asad in the northwest portion of Iraq, members of the Marine helicopter unit HMM-764 stepped out of a chartered jetliner to the cheers, hugs, kisses and tears of family members, who carried signs reading "Finally Home," "Welcome Back Marines" and, in one case, simply "Dad."

"The only time my hands shook this whole time was when I was getting off the plane," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Peter Zorba, an Acton resident who was greeted by his wife, Molly, his 2-year-old daughter, Leia, and his parents.

"The best part is right here," he said, holding his daughter.

Molly Zorba, who wore a T-shirt that read "I love my Marine," said it had been a tough time while her husband had been away, but frequent e-mails and weekly telephone calls helped bridge the distance.

To help Leia, Molly had a photo of her husband in his helicopter printed up on a nightshirt. She also had a photo of him by Leia's bed.

"She kissed it every night," Molly Zorba said. "She's happy to have him back."

Sgt. Brittania Kreig, an avionics chief who resides in Lancaster, was greeted by her mother, Donna.

"The anticipation of her coming home was worse than giving birth," Donna Kreig said.

Brittania Kreig said the first order of business was a hot shower. After that, she said, she needed time to relax. "I'm just going to spend some time hanging out," Brittania Kreig said.

Cpl. Benny Zamora, a hydraulic mechanic from Los Angeles, was greeted by his wife, Lupe, his 5-year-old daughter Kristal, and his 5-month-old daughter Dafne, whom he met for the very first time Monday.

"It's pretty good feeling to meet the new part of the family," Zamora said. "It was hard to hide the tears."

It had been a difficult time to have her husband away, Lupe said, but e-mails helped out quite a bit.

"It (e-mail) is priceless," Lupe Zamora said. "It was like he was home, but he wasn't home."

For Kirstal, it has been a frustrating time, Lupe said.

"She doesn't want him to leave again."

The journey home was a long one, covering more than 36 hours of travel time. The journey started with a convoy ride into Kuwait and then an airplane trip to Ireland, to New York and finally to Edwards.

For the family of Staff Sgt. John Walker, an ordinance chief, there was a six-hour drive left to go to get to their home in Yuma, Ariz. Walker was greeted by his wife, Amy, and their two daughters, Jenysis, 3, and Amber-Rose, 2.

"This (his homecoming) was all we've talked about for two weeks," Amy Walker said. "They just want to hold him."

The Marines are conducting tours of seven months at a time. It is expected that the unit will return to the Middle East in April, said Lt. Col. Drew Crane. An advance detail of 32 Marines from a second Marine helicopter squadron that had been in Afghanistan arrived Friday. The remainder of HMH-769 will return from Afghanistan in mid-October.

---
Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen@dailynews.com

http://media.mnginteractive.com/media/paper200/092104_gis.jpg

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20943~2415087,00.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

DoD Employees, Servicemembers Need to Heed Hatch Act Rules
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2004 -- As the election season swings into high gear, the Office of Special Counsel has filed complaints against two federal employees deemed in violation of the Hatch Act.

The complaints address the use of "politically partisan electronic mail messages while on duty," according to a statement released by the OSC.

The Hatch Act regulates DoD employees' and servicemembers' participation in politics. The recent violations focus on e-mails sent to about 15 recipients in one case and more than 70 in the other.

"The use of Internet and electronic mail is second-nature to almost everyone and has become a favorite and effective campaign tool, even more so perhaps than four years ago," Special Counsel Scott Bloch said in the statement. "I want to remind federal employees to be vigilant about following the Hatch Act, because we will consider this activity a form of electronic leafleting and thus a violation of the prohibition on partisan political activity in the workplace."

Partisan political activity is defined as activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party or candidate for a partisan political office or partisan political group.

Participation in politics is not completely forbidden. However, active-duty military and executive-branch employees need to be aware of the rights and restrictions that the Hatch Act imposes on such activity. What is allowed and disallowed can be a bit confusing.

Of DoD employees, those in uniform are under the most restrictions. They may attend political meetings or rallies, but only as spectators and not in uniform. They are not allowed to give political speeches, serve in any official capacity in partisan groups or participate in political campaigns or conventions.

They are also not generally allowed to campaign for political office.

In its essence, the Hatch Act prohibits federal executive-branch employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or wearing an official uniform, the statement said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Published on Sunday, September 19, 2004 by the Long Island, NY Newsday <br />
A Key Question from a Slain GI's Mother <br />
by Jimmy Breslin <br />
<br />
Sue Niederer was standing in the middle of the large...

[thedrifter]

Last updated: September 21. 2004 10:35AM

Sister remembers dedication of N.C. Marine killed in Iraq


The Associated Press







A 28-year-old Charlotte man prompted to join the Marines after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was killed by an explosive last week in Iraq, his family said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Gregory Howman was killed when an explosive device went off while he was on a late-night patrol Sept. 15 in Iraq's Anbar Province, his family said.

Born in Atlanta, Howman grew up in Charlotte, where he played baseball at Olympic High School, eventually earning a GED.

Though he had talked about joining the military while growing up, he put that off, getting work with a residential stone distributor instead. After the terror attacks on New York and Washington, though, Howman wanted to help fight back, his sister said.

"I think like a lot of people after Sept. 11, he just felt like he had to do something," Rebecca Lehmann told The Charlotte Observer.

He passed an entrance exam on his fourth try and lost 40 pounds at boot camp. Howman's unit was one of the first to cross the Kuwaiti border into Iraq when the war started in March 2003.

His sister said many of the younger Marines in Howman's unit called him "Grandpa," and that he felt responsible for the recent high school graduates.

He spent 10 months in Iraq, then a year back in the United States. When he redeployed a month ago, his sister said, Howman was eager to return, feeling that he was doing good work there.

Lehmann said her family has been stalked by tragedy in recent weeks. Their mother, Hannah Howman, died suddenly at age 64 six weeks ago at Lehmann's home in the Florida Panhandle, shortly before Howman left for his second tour in Iraq.

Last week, Lehmann and her family fled their home in advance of Hurricane Ivan, which hit their neighborhood hard.

And as the family gathered in Charlotte to mourn Howman's death, they learned their stepmother had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

"I don't think we can get hit again," Lehmann said. "I don't think I can take it. I can't have the breath knocked out of me any more."

Howman was the second serviceman from Charlotte killed in action in Iraq. Army infantryman Chris Hill, who was 26, died March 11.

A memorial service is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. at McEwen Funeral Home in Pineville. Howman is to be buried Sept. 29 in Arlington National Cemetery.

---

Information from: The Charlotte Observer,

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040921/APN/409210753&cachetime=5


Ellie

[thedrifter]

New Web Site Offers Extensive Information on Terrorist Incidents, Groups
By John Valceanu
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2004 -- A nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing terrorism on U.S. soil has launched a Web site that provides extensive information on global terrorist incidents and organizations.

The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, known as MIPT, is funded by the Department of Homeland Security. The institute created the Terrorism Knowledge Base over the past four years. It was made available to the world in early September, said James Ellis III, MIPT research and program coordinator.

"The goal of this site is to create a system that gives users a much more comprehensive picture of terrorism than is available anywhere else," Ellis said. "We've given people a much better window into where terrorism is happening, how it is happening and who is carrying it out."

The Terrorism Knowledge Base provides a variety of terrorism-related resources, including original data gathered over a 35-year period, encompassing information on more than 18,000 separate terrorist incidents. In addition to searchable data, such as fact sheets on terrorist organizations and court records of terrorism trials, the site also offers interactive analytical tools capable of developing individualized reports and analyses on various aspects of terrorism.

"Part of our mandate is to act as a national point of contact in the search for the social and political causes of terrorism," Ellis said. "We feel that this project helps fulfill our mandate."

Because the site provides not only a very broad overview of terrorism but also considerable depth on specific subjects, Ellis said that it is useful to a wide variety of users. These may range from researchers and policymakers to emergency responders or simply interested members of the general public. Defense Department personnel are an important segment of the audience, according to Ellis.

"This is a global system, capable of global reach, and for that reason it should be useful to military people or defense officials," Ellis said. "The defense community can certainly be considered a core audience."

Since information available on the site is not classified and freely available to the public, Ellis said, it has been useful to some military and other government personnel operating in overseas locations without access to secure networks.

"We've received feedback from personnel who have been able to get information they needed from the site while functioning in an operational capacity. Because they didn't have access to secure connections at the time, they couldn't get that information through the classified channels they would normally have used," Ellis said. "We are not a real-time intelligence system, but we can serve as a source of accurate and credible information."

Army Lt. Col. James Cassella, director of U.S. Army Public Web Communications and the Army home page, said he feels the amount of information on the site will be of great value to users.

"This site offers a tremendous amount of content, so much so that we're considering adding a link to it from our own 'Timeline of Terrorism' Web special on www.army.mil," Cassella said. "Terrorism continues to pose a grave threat, and the more we know about it, the more effective we'll be in countering it."

One of the most useful tools provided by the site is the ability to compare and contrast groups of data, according to Ellis. For example, a visitor to the site can view side-by-side terrorism-related statistics of two countries. Or they might choose to compare two terrorist organizations. The system's tools can also generate reports and graphic representations of the research queries.

"The site offers a deep system with lots of functionality. We don't expect to be the last stop in terrorism research, but we could and should be the first stop," Ellis said. "Our site should have wide appeal. It's not just for the hard-core analysts. Whether it's someone looking up terrorism information for the first time or a high-end user doing advanced research, they should find our site useful."

Sgt. 1st Class Jacquelyn Jones, who serves as the senior intelligence analyst with the U.S. Army Reserve's 9th Theater Support Command, based on Fort Belvoir, Va., said she is impressed with the site and its ability to efficiently deliver information.

"I think it's awesome. If my commander requires some quick background information on a geographic location or some basic information on which terrorist groups might be active in a potential area of operations, this site would help me find that information quickly and easily," Jones said.

Though he said he believes the Terrorism Knowledge Base already offers the most comprehensive information package on terrorism available to the public on the Web, Ellis said the site will be continuously updated and improved.

"Our project is meant to be dynamic, user-friendly and interactive. It will only get better as people use it and give us feedback," Ellis said. "I think our site can revolutionize and raise the level of terrorism research. Hopefully, it will also have a positive impact on policy making."

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Sep2004/n09222004_2004092205.html

Ellie