Marines Grieve Before Raid

[thedrifter]

Marines Grieve Before Raid
USA TODAY
November 4, 2004

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Holding back tears, and at times letting them flow, U.S. Marines held a memorial service yesterday for eight comrades who were killed in a suicide bombing over the weekend.

The Marines of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines of the 1st Expeditionary Force gathered in a rudimentary dining hall to remember fallen colleagues.

Mixing the sacred and profane, Marines told heartwarming and heartbreaking stories about young grunts and husbands, sons and fathers, men whose lives were stopped short while they were still being built.

As U.S. and Iraqi forces gear up for an expected invasion of Fallujah that they hope will stop a spreading insurgency, survivors vowed to leave their grief behind and get back to the battlefield.

"I want to get back out -- they all want to go," said Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict of West Milford, N.J., whose wounded left hand is bandaged. He was in the troop carrier hit by the bomber. "They don't want their brothers going out without them.

"It was an eye-opener, a tough lesson learned," Benedict said.

"The day after, I was full of rage at the Iraqi people. I got that out of there. (These Marines) know that fighting with revenge in mind will cause more problems. We've talked a lot about that."

While some of the 150 Marines sat silently, trying to keep their emotions in check, one officer said that "hate consumes, and hate will not let us focus -- focus like a laser on our enemy."

Those who knew the eight Marines best in their squads and platoons remembered them individually -- often as fun-loving, family-loving, God-fearing, model Marines.


The service is part of process aimed at dealing with the Marines' grief while controlling the reaction and drawing focus back to the battlefield, said U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Nash, a psychiatrist from Cardiff, Calif.

"They are supporting each other, healing each other and trying to figure out how in the world (they will) go back out there and take the same risks, knowing that this can happen," Nash said.

Nash has been counseling Marines from Bravo Company in small groups.

"One of several tools that warriors use to do the work they do, is denial -- that's the No. 1 primary defense," he said. "But once that denial is blown away -- literally -- by something like this, it's harder to get back out."

Coping with trauma, or even recognizing it as a problem, has historically been stigmatized in militaries around the world as a sign of weakness. But U.S. military officials increasingly recognize that post-traumatic stress must be dealt with early on.

In Iraq, more than 1,100 U.S. troops have died since the war began in March 2003. The growing death toll weighs heavily on the Marines.

"The nature of the conflict over here is such that it increases their stress load enormously," Nash said.

U.S. forces in Iraq are fighting an elusive enemy and at the same time trying to win over the population.

This kind of counterinsurgency is frustrating and stressful: "To be in a passive, defensive position; to not know who the enemy is; to know that the people you are shaking hands with during the day, and giving candy to their children, are going to be the same one who mortar you at night," Nash said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Jets Pound Parts of Fallujah

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. jets pounded parts of Fallujah on Thursday, targeting insurgents in a city where American forces were said to be gearing up for a major offensive.


Al-Jazeera television broadcast a threat by an unspecified armed group to strike oil installations and government buildings if Americans launch an all-out assault on Fallujah. The report was accompanied by a videotape showing about 20 armed men brandishing various weapons including a truck-mounted machine gun.


Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese-American businessman — the second U.S. citizen seized this week in Baghdad — and videotape Wednesday showed the beheadings of three Iraqi National Guardsmen and an Iraqi officer.


Early Thursday, U.S. aircraft fired on several barricaded rebel positions in northeast and southeastern Fallujah, the military said.


U.S. and rebels forces also clashed overnight on the southeastern outskirts of the city after insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at Marines. Two insurgents were killed while no U.S. casualties were reported, said Lt. Nathan Braden, of 1st Marine Division. Hospital officials in Fallujah reported three civilians were injured in the overnight shelling.


U.S. forces are preparing for a major offensive in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, and other Sunni militant strongholds in hopes of curbing the insurgency ahead of January's election.


An Iraqi National Guard patrol was hit Thursday by a car bomb in Iskandariyah, an insurgent hot spot 30 miles south of Baghdad, killing at least three people, Iraqi officials said.


Iskandiriyah Hospital officials said three people had been killed and a total of 15 others injured, including the guardsmen.


Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese-American businessman — the second U.S. citizen seized this week in Baghdad — and a videotape aired Wednesday showing the beheadings of three Iraqi National Guardsmen and an Iraqi officer.


On Wednesday, a U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing 12 miles south of the capital. A suicide driver detonated his vehicle at a checkpoint near Baghdad airport, injuring nine Iraqis and forcing U.S. troops to close the main route into the city for hours.


Gunmen killed a senior Oil Ministry official, Hussein Ali al-Fattal, after he left his house in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said. Al-Fattal was the general manager of a state-owned company that distributes petroleum byproducts.


The violence served as a grim reminder of Iraq (news - web sites)'s rapidly deteriorating security situation, which President Bush (news - web sites) must address now that he has won his long electoral contest against Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites).


Radim Sadeq, an American of Lebanese origin who worked for a mobile phone company, was grabbed about midnight Tuesday when he answered the door of his home in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighborhood, officials said. No group claimed responsibility.


It was the second abduction this week in Mansour, where many foreign companies are based. On Monday, gunmen stormed the two-story compound of a Saudi company, abducting six people, including an unidentified American, a Nepalese, a Filipino and three Iraqis, two of whom were later released. No claim has been made for the kidnappings.


More than 170 foreigners have been kidnapped and more than 30 of them killed in Iraq since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime fell in April last year. At least six of the foreigners were beheaded by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant who has sworn allegiance to al-Qaida.


As the wave of abductions continues, another militant group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, posted a videotape on a Web site Wednesday showing the beheading of man it said was an Iraqi army major captured in the northern city of Mosul.


A statement by the group called Maj. Hussein Shanoun an "apostate" and said he confessed to taking part in attacks against insurgents on orders of the Americans.





Just before his death, the victim was shown warning Iraqi soldiers and police against "dealing with the infidel troops," meaning the Americans.

In another video, aired Wednesday on Al-Jazeera, a previously unknown group calling itself the Brigades of Iraq's Honorables said it beheaded three Iraqi National Guardsmen, accusing them of spying for the Americans.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks on Iraq's U.S.-trained security forces, who the Americans hope will assume greater responsibility to enable Washington to begin drawing down its forces — now at their highest levels since the summer of 2003.

More than 85 percent of the estimated 165,700 multinational troops in Iraq are Americans, despite U.S. efforts to encourage other countries to share the burden of securing and rebuilding Iraq.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716


Ellie

[thedrifter]

.S. Court-Martial Begins Over Iraqi POW Death <br />
<br />
Wed Nov 3, 3:00 PM ET <br />
<br />
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Court-martial proceedings have begun against the last of nine U.S. Marines charged over the death of...

[thedrifter]

U.S. Allies Welcome Bush Re-Election
Associated Press
November 4, 2004

SYDNEY, Australia - American allies in Asia hailed the re-election of President Bush as a victory for the global war on terror and expressed hope his second term would help defuse nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Others in the region feared another Bush term could lead to more global turmoil.

In Europe, meanwhile, allies alienated by Bush's first four years in power offered to let bygones be bygones, saying they want to work with the new administration, which claimed a renewed mandate Wednesday.

"It's a victory for the anti-terrorism cause," Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch U.S. ally and friend of Bush, told reporters in Sydney on Thursday. "This is a strong reaffirmation of his leadership of the United States in its fight against world terrorism."

Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror, also welcomed the re-election but Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said he hoped the world's Muslims, including Palestinians and Kashmiris, would fare better under the policies of Bush's second term.

"Muslims were hurt by some of his policies (in his first term), but I hope he will take them along in his upcoming term," he said.

Shopkeeper Harun Abdul Mahmud, 52, said in Malaysia he was "very, very disappointed with the Americans for choosing Bush."

"I fear he will take actions that could cause the relationship between Muslims and the West to worsen. This will make the world a more dangerous place," Harun said

Stock markets in Japan, New Zealand and Australia rose Thursday as did their currencies against the U.S. dollar, which slipped on fears that a second Bush term will do little to wind back the American budget deficit. Elsewhere in Asia, stock markets slid back on profit-taking.


Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he hoped Bush's win would bring closer ties between Tokyo and Washington.

"The Japan-U.S. alliance is the basis for this country's security as well as peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

In Seoul, the government said it would continue to "closely cooperate" with Bush for a peaceful resolution of the nuclear dispute with Pyongyang.

Three rounds of talks on curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions yielded no breakthroughs, and Pyongyang rejected a scheduled fourth round. Observers speculated North Korea was holding out for a possible victory by Kerry, who expressed support for bilateral talks favored by Pyongyang.

South Korean officials said Thursday they believe North Korea will now return to the six-nation talks among the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.

"North Korea will consider it has to continue to deal with the Bush administration, and there is a possibility that it will respond to the talks," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

North Korea did not immediately comment on Bush's re-election.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said Beijing looked forward to promoting "constructive cooperative relations" with Washington.

China opposed the war in Iraq, but China-U.S. relations have been mostly smooth over the past few years as its economy and trade with the United States have expanded.

The two countries have played "a positive role in promoting peace and development in Asia Pacific and rest of the world," Hu was cited as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who embraced the U.S.-led war on terror, congratulated Bush, saying, "Our shared political vision encompasses not only blood shed in war but energies put forth to win the peace in many parts of the world, including in our own country."

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, which has been hit by a string of deadly attacks by al-Qaida-linked terrorists in recent years, pledged to work closely with Bush in the fight against terrorism.

"As countries that have fallen victims to terrorism, the United States and Indonesia are only too painfully aware of what is at stake," foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

In Europe, French President Jacques Chirac sent a congratulatory letter saying he hoped Bush's second term "will be the occasion for strengthening the French-American friendship."

"We will be unable to find satisfying responses to the numerous challenges that confront us today without a close trans-Atlantic partnership," wrote Chirac.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who also clashed with Bush over Iraq, wrote the president a congratulatory letter expressing "great expectations" for renewed cooperation.

Election interest in Europe was intense, as was the disappointment many felt over Bush's victory.

"There is a major and lasting lack of understanding between the American people and the rest of the world, in both directions," said Hubert Vedrine, a former French foreign minister. "Almost all nations, with perhaps three or four exceptions, wanted change."

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_bush_110404,00.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Mom Of Marine Killed Supports War <br />
Associated Press <br />
November 4, 2004 <br />
<br />
WASHINGTON - As the wife of a 25 year Air Force veteran, Debra Bascom has long dreaded the day that word would arrive on...

[thedrifter]

Marines return home from Iraq

Paul Hanak

Tribune-Courier Staff Writer

They had attacks on their base almost every day. Sometimes they had to take drastic measures, but sometimes there was nothing they could really do. Nonetheless, two local Marines played an intricate part in the war against Iraq.

Stationed at Camp Fallujah in a large town 40 miles west of Baghdad with about 4,000 other soldiers, Lance Cpls. Joe Morris and Cory Curtner stayed busy with various tasks every day.

Their two main objectives were force protection – guarding the base – and infantry operations – patrolling the perimeter to make sure nobody gets near the base.

If they were getting attacked, however, they would grab their flak and kevlar and try to get inside a reinforced building as quickly as possible.

Morris said the hardest part of being over there wasn’t the attacks on the base, though. It was the heat. He said it reached 130 to 140 degrees almost daily under the constant sun reflecting off the sand and dirt -- all the while in full army gear.

While they never needed to use their weapons much, they did try to keep the water running for fear the enemy might blow the pump house and also to keep the generator running for the air conditioner.

Much to Morris’s surprise, the Iraqi people were not as hostile and angry as one may think.

“When we got to interact with the Iraqi people, a good percentage of them were nice to us,” Morris said. “We didn’t have a lot of problems with them. Just a few percent who didn’t want us there would attack us. For the most part, most of them were good and nice people that appreciated our help.”

Their journey began on Dec. 19 last year when they received a phone call instructing them to report to Nashville by Jan. 5. They then traveled to Camp Pendleton in San Diego for briefing and training until Feb. 18.

The experience there wasn’t the worst they could have expected. They did have Internet access, mail and phones. They also worked in 12-hour shifts with plenty of time in between to rest.

Morris does not resent going at all and being away for about six months. He did miss his family, but was glad for the adventure.

“I’m glad I got the opportunity to at least go and see what it was all about instead of just watching it on TV,” Morris said.

Curtner and Morris returned Oct. 9 to unite back with their families and friends, who threw them both a welcome home party last Friday.

Both families were on edge the entire time during their trip.

“I couldn’t watch the news,” said Karen Sheldon, Morris’s mother. “You heard about a marine and it just stopped your heart and made you stop to think and step backwards. The feeling was just cold and numb and you just waited for the next phone call from him.”

Doug and Karen Sheldon, parents of Morris, and Karl and Susie Curtner, parents of Curtner, are extremely happy to have them home. Caleb Curtner is glad to see his brother again.

When Morris was asked how it felt to be back home, just one word escaped from his smiling lips: “Great.”

Cory Curtner was unavailable for comment at press time.

http://www.tribunecourier.com/tribpaper/articledisplay2.asp?Key=209

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines kill time with war movies and hard rock
03 November 2004

FALLUJA: US Marines are turning to hard rock music, war movies and thrillers about Islamic militants to kill time ahead of an expected assault on Iraq's rebel city of Falluja.


At an outpost just a few hundred metres away from a flag hoisted by militants led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Lance Corporal Richard Ryba picks up Path of the Assassin.

It's a Brad Thor thriller in which a US secret service agent takes on fictional militants bent on global holy war.

"This book is really cool. On the first page the bad guys fire rockets at the streets," said Ryba at the most advanced US position in Falluja. "It is pretty awesome."

An assault on Falluja would aim to crush al Qaeda's declared ally Zarqawi and his foreign militants as well as insurgents loyal to ex-president Saddam Hussein.

Marines are sweating it out before the order comes to attack the town 50km west of Baghdad.

Every day they flock to buy DVDs at an army exchange service. Titles such as Gladiator and Braveheart sell, but movies about the Vietnam War are the most popular.

"My favourite is Platoon," said Sergeant Nicholas Graham, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Graham, lead driver of a convoy that travelled to Falluja on Monday, played Guns N Roses' Paradise City hammering out "where the grass is green and the girls are pretty."

He might have been lost in music but the threats around him were very real.

"Those cars are flashing their headlights," was the radio warning that motorists could be signalling to insurgents to ambush the convoy of armoured Humvee vehicles.

US Marines may have the luxury of movies and music as they anxiously await the assault but they cannot afford to let their guard down.

Insurgents fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Ryba's outpost on Monday from a house about 300m away, forcing the Marines to take cover inside huge sand bunkers.

"All we can do around here to pass the time is wait for them to shoot at us and then wait until they stick their head out and kill them," said Corporal Eric Shelvy, 21, of St Louis, Missouri.

Another Marine lay in a bunker with his eyes closed. "I just want to sleep," he said. He didn't rest for long.

An insurgent fired at the outpost from an abandoned house across the street and Marines took up positions and fired back.

When calm returned, a cleric on a mosque loudspeaker broke the silence with a cry for holy war.

"Youth prepare for Jihad," he said in Arabic as a Marine stared past the Zarqawi flag at an industrial area used by militants.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3084117a1860,00.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines Prepare for Assault on Fallujah <br />
Originally published Monday, November 1, 2004 <br />
Los Angeles Times <br />
<br />
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq -- The Marines are getting ready for an all-out assault. <br />
<br />
Troops are...

[thedrifter]

From Just Cause to Iraqi Freedom - Marine reflects on first encounter with Marines in Panama
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200411334838
Story by Lance Cpl. Miguel A. Carrasco Jr.



CAMP BAHARIA, Iraq (Nov. 2, 2004) -- A 15-year-old Panamanian boy watched Marines patrol through his poor town of Santigo, Panama, Dec. 20, 1989, in support of Operation Just Cause.

Nearly 15 years later, Cpl. Heriberto Calles, a scout with Company A, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion currently attached to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, peers through the glass of a light armored vehicle, searching for possible anti-Iraqi forces.

With a smile on his face, Calles remembers when he was a boy and the Marines gave the locals in Panama needed supplies.

"They were very polite and gave food to the children. Then I remember them walking back into the woods with camouflage paint," said Calles, 30. "These Marines didn't know who we were and they still helped us out."

During grade school, he told his classmates about his plans to go to the United States to become a Marine.

"They all thought it would be impossible, but that didn't stop me," said Calles.

Calles, knew the challenge before him and remained determined to finish his goal.

"There were times when I felt like giving up. I wouldn't even have enough money to catch a bus to go to school," said Calles. "But the support of my family and friends inspired me to continue my dream of becoming a Marine."

Balancing a job and schoolwork as young adult, Calles attended Panama University. He earned a bachelor's degree in music while playing in a band as a tenor saxophone to help pay the bills. During his last year at the university he got a scholarship from the Panama Canal College to learn English.

Calles soon received a visa to come to the United States. Calles boarded a plane to New York Dec. 18, 1999, two days before his birthday.

"All my friends and family were there to see me leave and to wish me good luck," said Calles. "I had to wait to receive a citizenship, so I worked for almost two years at a cleaners so I could pay my rent," said Calles.

After obtaining U.S. residency, Calles met with a Marine Corps recruiter and enlisted. Before taking off for Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Calles had to obtain a green card. It took him only two weeks to get it and he was on his way to the yellow footprints.

"It took me 13 years to get to where I wanted to be," said Calles. "Thirteen years to finally become a Marine."

Calles' journey in the Marine Corps has taken him even further from home. From Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., he was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Here, he has seen the Iraqi children out in the towns and remembers the feeling he once had as a boy.

"I know that one day these kids will grow up and say that they want to be a Marine," said Calles.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200411335156/$file/CALLESlow.jpg

Cpl. Heriberto Calles, 30, a scout with Company A, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, attached to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, was a 15-year-old Panamanian boy when Marines patrolled his poor town of Santigo, Panama, in support of Operation Just Cause Dec. 20, 1989. This encounter with the Marines inspired him to become a Marine. Thirteen years later he made that dream a reality. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Miguel A. Carrasco Jr.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/B22F7C41BF7DD03B85256F41003065ED?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Bravo Company mourns its fallen



By Scott Peterson
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

NEAR FALLUJAH, IRAQ - As a significant new offensive to invade Fallujah looms, US Marines seeking closure over recent casualties held a memorial service Wednesday for eight comrades killed in a suicide bombing over the weekend.

Holding back tears, and at times letting them flow, Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion 3rd Marines gathered in a rudimentary dining hall to remember fallen colleagues.

Mixing the sacred and profane, marines told heartwarming and heart-breaking stories about young grunts and husbands, sons and fathers, whose lives were stopped short while they were still being built.

As US and Iraqi forces gear up for an expected invasion of Fallujah that they hope will crush a spreading insurgency, survivors vowed to leave their grief behind and get back to the battlefield.

"I want to get back out - they all want to go," says Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict of West Milford, N.J., whose wounded left hand is bandaged. He was in the troop carrier hit by the bomber. "They don't want their brothers going out without them.

"It was an eye opener - a tough lesson learned," says Sergeant Benedict, holding his injured hand. "The day after, I was full of rage at the Iraqi people. I got that out of there. [These marines] know that fighting with revenge in mind will cause more problems. We've talked a lot about that."

While some 150 marines sat silently, trying to keep their emotions in check by steady sniffing, one officer said that "hate consumes, and hate will not let us focus - focus like a laser on our enemy."

The marines were remembered individually - often as fun-loving, family-loving, God-fearing, and rule-breaking model marines - by those who knew them best on their squads and their platoons.

But thoughts of revenge still bubbled up for one marine remembering Lance Cpl. Michael Scarborough from Washington, Ga.

"I know, where he is now, he'd want us to burn Fallujah down for what [they] did to him, and that's exactly what's going to happen," the marine vowed.

The service is part of a healing process aimed at letting out marines' grief while controlling the reaction and drawing focus back to the battlefield, says US Navy Capt. Bill Nash, a marine division psychiatrist from Cardiff, Calif.

"They are supporting each other, healing each other, and trying to figure out how in the world [they will] go back out there and take the same risks, knowing that this can happen," says Captain Nash, who has been meeting with small groups from Bravo Company.

"One of several tools that warriors use to do the work they do, is denial - that's the No. 1 primary defense," he says. "But once that denial is blown away - literally - by something like this, it's harder to get back out."

Coping with trauma, or even recognizing it as a problem, has historically been stigmatized in militaries around the world as a sign of weakness. But US military officials increasingly recognize that post-traumatic stress must be dealt with early on.

In Iraq, insurgents have killed more than 1,100 US troops since the war began - a fact that weighs heavily.

"The nature of the conflict over here is such that it increases their stress load enormously," says Nash, ticking off the variables. "To be in a passive, defensive position; to not know who the enemy is; to know that the people you are shaking hands with during the day, and giving candy to their children, are going to be the same one who mortar you at night."

"The changing rules of engagement; the lack of clarity of the mission; political issues back home - all of those add to the stress level," he continues. "I reinforce the basics: We are professionals, and this is our job - but once we're here, we're fighting for each other, to protect each other, so that as many as possible can go home well and alive."

With guns slung over their shoulders, standing uneasily at podium made by an olive-drab mosquito net draped over a table, Marines put an emotive human face on comrades whom they often refer to only by rank and last name.

A few wept, or buried their faces in their uniforms. They spoke of brotherhood melded by combat and the stress of Iraq, and pranks during past deployments together.

Sgt. Kelley Courtney of Macon, Ga., "left behind a wife, Cindy, a 1-year-old daughter and a younger son, all of whom he loved very much," said one marine.

Lance Cpl. Andrew Riedel, who lived in Northglen, Colo., had a "[military] bearing," and protected his younger sister by scaring away potential suitors - an image that brought some laughter. He had, said a friend, "a certain arrogance, which you want in a machine-gunner."

Cpl. Christopher Lapka, of Peoria, Ariz., was "gracefully clumsy" and couldn't bear to remain in college while other soldiers fought. He had a love for video games, not a love for the Marine Corps, and "wanted to be better than himself."

Quotes from the Bible were read, including one from Ecclesiastes: "A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time for war, and a time for peace."

One officer also quoted Teddy Roosevelt: "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly - who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause."

Lance Corp. John Byrd II, from Fairview, W. Va., exhibited those devotions. When he came to Iraq, his wife Jessica was pregnant, marines said, adding that "the day he was married, he was the happiest man on earth."

"John didn't know how to dance, so I decided to teach him a few steps," said one friend, prompting laughs. "I had to drag him out there on the dance floor, but he got the hang of it."

"Now he's in a better place - a place where there is no fear. He's in peace with the Lord," the marine said.

"He kept telling me: 'I just want to see my child,'" another marine added, about Byrd's son, due in February. "He wasn't scared of dying. The only thing he feared was that his child would be without a father."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Elections aside, Marines want more pay, exit plan

By Edward Harris
The Associated Press
Posted November 2 2004

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq · As Americans head to the polls, U.S. Marines squaring off against Iraqi insurgents say they expect trouble in Iraq for years no matter who wins the White House. What they want is better equipment, more pay and a clear exit strategy from their next commander in chief.

Many Marines fighting in Iraq's Sunni Triangle don't talk much about the race between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry. For them, the focus is on staying alive and following orders that they don't expect to change: Defeat the insurgency and help rebuild Iraq.

But what really concerns them is the prospect of an open-ended mission lacking a final benchmark for victory.

"We obviously can't just leave Iraq now and waste all of the good work the Marines have done here," said Hospital Corpsman Quinton Brown, a 24-year-old Chicagoan attached to the 1st Marine Division.

"Regardless, I want to see the next president give us an idea how we're going to end the occupation," he added. "What are we doing while we're here? What's next? Bush has done that to some degree. But we need more."

Marines based in the dangerous areas west and north of Baghdad are preparing for a possible big offensive against insurgent strongholds if they get the go-ahead from interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who has warned he is losing patience with negotiations.

But Marine officers caution that even if U.S. forces overrun the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, they don't expect the insurgency to evaporate. And troops on the ground say they've heard nothing from either Bush or Kerry indicating Marines will soon leave Iraq.

"It doesn't matter who the president is. Our role should be less and less here -- the Iraqis want to do it themselves. But we'll be here for at least the next four years," said Lance Cpl. Charles Revord, 24, of National City, Mich.

With violence expected to intensify ahead of Iraqi elections planned for January as a crucial step in the effort to stabilize the country and entrench democracy, Marines say they need better equipment, particularly well-armored Humvees.

"I hope the Marine Corps gets more funding for better weapons, better gear and better Humvees," said Lance Cpl. Jonathan Sandoval.

"You see those Humvees out there?" he added, gesturing at vehicles jerry-rigged with armor plating so heavy it bows the vehicles' axles. One of the Humvees, its top open to the elements, has been peppered by shrapnel from roadside bombs.

The Marines see their Army counterparts driving professionally armored, closed-back Humvees -- provoking an old rivalry. "We work with the worst, but we do the best," said Sandoval, 20, of Los Angeles.

Many Marines are eager to go after the insurgents.

"The next president needs to stop stalling. We're waiting around and they're getting stronger," Sandoval said of the insurgents. "At the same time, we're losing a lot of good Marines."

Marines say they would like a boost in danger pay, an increase in base salaries and better health benefits for their families.

"Pay should be better, that's for sure. It's a pride thing," said Sgt. Israel Sanchez, 27, also from Los Angeles.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-airaqfuture02nov02,0,6044719.story?coll=sfla-news-nationworld


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Evidence against Saddam probably lost: rights group <br />
<br />
AMMAN (AFP) - US-led forces compromised the case against Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and former Iraqi leaders by failing to safeguard...

[thedrifter]

November 04, 2004

Report: Weapons cache looters outnumbered soldiers

Associated Press


LOS ANGELES — Explosives were looted from the Al-Qaqaa ammunitions site in Iraq while outnumbered U.S. soldiers assigned to guard the materials watched helplessly, soldiers told the Los Angeles Times.
About a dozen U.S. troops were guarding the sprawling facility in the weeks after the April 2003 fall of Baghdad when Iraqi looters raided the site, the newspaper quoted a group of unidentified soldiers as saying. Army reservists and National Guardsmen witnessed the looting and some soldiers sent messages to commanders in Baghdad requesting help, but received no reply, they said.

“It was complete chaos. It was looting like L.A. during the Rodney King riots,” one officer said.

The eyewitness accounts reported by the Times are the first provided by soldiers and bolster claims that the U.S. military had failed to safeguard the powerful explosives, the newspaper said.

Iraqi officials told the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency last month that about 380 tons of high-grade explosives, a type powerful enough to detonate a nuclear weapon, had been taken from the Al-Qaqaa facility.

Soldiers who belong to two different units described how Iraqis snatched explosives from unsecured bunkers and drove off with them in pickup trucks.

The soldiers who spoke to the Times asked to remain unidentified, saying they feared retaliation from the Pentagon.

The soldiers said they could not confirm that looters took the particularly powerful explosives known as HMX and RDX. One soldier, however, said U.S. forces saw looters load trucks with bags marked “hexamine,” which is a key ingredient for HMX.

One senior noncommissioned officer said troops “were running from one side of the compound to the other side, trying to kick people out” and that at least 100 vehicles were at the site waiting for the military to leave so that they could loot the munitions.

The Pentagon has offered accounts that suggest the explosives were removed before the U.S.-led invasion to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and not during the chaos following the fall of Baghdad.

A Pentagon statement last week said the removal of the explosives would have required dozens of heavy trucks moving along the same roads as U.S. combat divisions.

The missing explosives became a campaign issue with Sen. John Kerry claiming it was further evidence of the Bush administration’s poor handling of the war.

Four soldiers who are members of the Germany-based 317th Support Center and the 258th Rear Area Operations Center, an Arizona-based Army National Guard unit, said the looting happened over several weeks in late April and early May 2003.

Asked about the soldiers’ accounts, Pentagon spokeswoman Rose-Ann Lynch told the newspaper: “We take the report of missing munitions very seriously. And we are looking into the facts and circumstances of this incident.”

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-489189.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Posted on Tue, Nov. 02, 2004





Lemoore soldier among eight Marines killed in Iraq attack

Associated Press


LEMOORE, Calif. - A 20-year-old Lemoore soldier was among eight Marines killed in Iraq in the deadliest attack against the U.S. military in six months.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy D. Bow died Saturday when a car bomb exploded next to a truck outside Fallujah in Iraq's Al Anbar province, the Pentagon said Monday. The attack came as U.S. forces prepared for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah ahead of Iraqi elections due by Jan. 31.

Bow belonged to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division of the Marine Expeditionary Force based in Hawaii. He is the first Kings County soldier, and the fifth from the San Joaquin Valley, to die in the Iraq war.

"Everyone is just in shock," said family friend Shelly Fortner. "He was 20. Just a baby. Too young to die."

After graduating from Lemoore High School in 2002, Bow joined the Marine in August 2003. He attended the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton during February 2004, where he trained to become a machine gunner, according to the Marines.

"He was a great guy," said Pvt. Jeremy Betteridgeid, a Marine who said he had attended Lemoore High with Bow. "I'm going to miss him."


http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/10079881.htm


Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 04, 2004

Re-enlistment ‘road show’ may stop in Iraq

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer


Corps manpower officials may travel to Iraq this winter in their bid to re-enlist more than 11,000 Marines in fiscal 2005. The combat-zone visit would be a first for the annual re-enlistment “road show.”
Each year, career retention specialists, occupational field monitors and other officials hit the road to brief Marines around the Corps on retention efforts and sign up a few for re-enlistment. In late October, a contingent of 34 retention officials returned from a whistle-stop tour of the Corps’ East Coast bases, and soon they’ll travel to West Coast bases before moving on to Japan.

But with more than 30,000 Marines now deployed to Iraq, it makes sense to schedule a visit there too.

“We’re trying to coordinate right now some kind of retention assist visit sometime after the first of the year,” said Lt. Col. B.J. Fitzpatrick, who heads the retention branch of Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va.

Corps officials must re-enlist about 5,000 first-termers and about 5,700 career Marines by Sept. 30. Despite fears that fiscal 2005 would bring re-enlistment jitters among many Marines, so far re-enlistment rates have kept pace with those of recent years.

The Corps has already re-enlisted 3,363 first termers and authorized another 327 to re-enlist, meeting nearly 65 percent of their first-term re-enlistment goal. Officials are making progress toward career retention goals as well, having either re-enlisted or authorized to re-enlist a total of 1,400 career Marines, meeting about 28 percent of the 2005 goal.

During the visit to bases along the East Coast the week of Oct. 25, manpower officials re-enlisted 67 Marines.

That same week, about 3,000 more Marines attended a brief about the Corps’ retention efforts, got face-time with their monitors or met with other headquarters officials.

Other leathernecks simply attend the briefs because they know they’ll be facing a re-enlistment decision, even if it is more than a year out, Fitzpatrick said.

“There are some guys who are two years out who are going to that brief, which is great, because they’re getting smart about their re-enlistment opportunities a year ahead of time,” he said.

Of the 67 Marines who re-enlisted during the East Coast tour, 29 were eligible for re-enlistment bonuses, Fitzpatrick said. The Corps has already committed about $15 million of its roughly $52 million re-enlistment bonus budget, he said.

The road show will go to the West Coast in early December, hitting Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.; Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.; the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.; and the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, Calif.

In January, a group will visit bases in Japan, Fitzpatrick said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-489705.php


Ellie

[hrscowboy]

greving hell lets get some revenge well greve later....

[thedrifter]

November 04, 2004 <br />
<br />
Court-martial not recommended for SEAL accused of prisoner abuse <br />
<br />
By Seth Hettena <br />
Associated Press <br />
<br />
<br />
SAN DIEGO — A military lawyer has recommended that a Navy SEAL not face...

[thedrifter]

Marines Go Through Urban Warfare Drills

By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press Writer

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - With weapons drawn, U.S. Marines dove through blown-out windows of an abandoned building near the insurgent stronghold Fallujah, searching for gunmen.


This time it was training. Soon, it may be for real, as Marines prepare for a showdown against Sunni Muslim fighters in Fallujah, the focus of Iraqi resistance.


"I know this is the video game generation," a Marine instructor bellowed at troops during urban warfare drills. "And what you see when you're playing 'Medal of Honor.' well, the same thing you see there is what will keep you alive outside."


U.S. commanders who hope to quell Iraq (news - web sites)'s insurgency before nationwide elections in January say Fallujah has become a main planning and staging center for violence and needs to be brought under control. But they also stress the order to attack must come from Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.


Since Marines aborted an April attack on Fallujah amid widespread Iraqi dismay over reports of civilian casualties, the insurgents have been bombing U.S. convoys and hitting their bases daily with mortar and rocket fire.


The Marines are packing ammunition, cleaning their rifles and practicing urban assault tactics as they prepare to strike.


"We just want to go in and get the job done. We've had a leash on for five months and we're seeing our buddies die everyday," said Cpl. Trevor Hill, 23, of Boise, Idaho. "Right now, we're in the boxing ring — with our hands tied behind our backs."


In one camp near Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the men of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines sat in the sun and polished their assault weapons to the sounds of rap impresario Dr. Dre.


They unloaded ammunition from shipping containers, listened to first aid instruction and fired assault weapons and machine guns at the shooting range. Hot meals have been curtailed and the Marines have been mostly eating prepackaged rations from plastic pouches.


Their commanders expect a tough fight. The Iraqi prime minister has warned Fallujah he will use force if the city does not hand over foreign fighters — who city fathers claim aren't there.


While other officers estimate up to 5,000 fighters are in Fallujah, Lt. Col. Willy Buhl said only about 1,000 will likely "stand their ground (and) resist" in the city of mosques and markets on the banks of the Euphrates.


Insurgents also are girding for battle by boobytrapping and blocking roads and disguising sniper emplacements, U.S. officers say. Skirmishes on the outskirts of the city are reported almost daily.


On Thursday, four masked insurgents set up a mortar position in one of the city's dusty courtyards, laying sandbags to support the base of the launching tube, Associated Press Television News footage showed. A man dressed in black crouched down and squinted at a small compass, apparently to direct the firing. The men fired several mortar shells, shouting "Allahu akbar" or "God is Great" with each shot.


Some of the toughest Fallujah fighters are likely men from Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, said Buhl, 42, of Los Gatos, Calif.


While no estimate of the number of foreign fighters exists, Buhl said U.S. forces are seeing "increasing numbers" of such fighters, who have taken over much of Fallujah's southern areas.


Buhl said they've also captured militants trained in the armed forces of neighboring Syria, although he didn't know if the men were currently serving. "We've certainly detained some with solid military skills," he said.


The U.S. forces entering Fallujah would be searching for the al-Qaida-allied Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who Buhl said is "in and out of the city."





Buhl said another target would be Omar Hadid, an Iraqi he called the "de-facto military leader" in Fallujah.

Buhl said infighting among the various armed factions in Fallujah has been reported and the fighters are trying to co-opt historical tribal rule in the region, using extortion and murder to pressure sheiks to their side.

"The city has clearly been a safe haven for terrorists," Buhl said, adding the absence of U.S. forces "has given them the opportunity to plan, organize and execute terrorism. The independence of that city has been a lure for foreign fighters."

"We believe that eliminating this terror base will help bring that city, and Iraq, into the process of legitimate governance."

While young Marines privately owned up to an amount of trepidation ahead of any Fallujah assault, they also welcomed a chance to fight their way into the annals of military history.

"This is the most important thing of my generation and I'm part of it. I can already see the pages in the history books," said Lance Cpl. Mike Detmer, 25, of Lynchburg, Va.

After months living under the daily hail of mortar and rocket fire, Detmer paraphrases Civil War Gen. Stonewall Jackson: "I feel as safe on the battlefield as I do in bed."

Jackson died of wounds suffered in a "friendly fire" incident at the Battle of Chancellorsville.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=1&u=/ap/20041104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_getting_ready

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines prepare for heavy casualties in battle to retake Fallujah


BY TOM LASSETER
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WITH U.S. FORCES NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - (KRT) - The number of dead and wounded from the expected battle to retake insurgent-controlled Fallujah probably will reach levels not seen since Vietnam, a senior surgeon at the Marine camp outside Fallujah said Thursday.

Navy Cmdr. Lach Noyes said the hospital here is preparing to handle 25 severely injured soldiers a day, not counting walking wounded and the dead. The hospital has added two operating rooms, doubled its supplies, added a mortuary and stocked up on blood reserves. Doctors have set up a system of ambulance vehicles that will rush to the camp's gate to receive the dead and wounded so units can return to battle quickly.

The plans underscore the ferocity of the fight the U.S. military expects in Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim city about 35 miles west of Baghdad which has been under insurgent control since April. More than 1,120 U.S. soldiers and Marines have died in Iraq since the war began, more than 860 of those from hostile fire.

The deadliest month was April when fierce fighting killed 126 U.S. troops largely at Fallujah and Ramadi before a cease-fire virtually turned Fallujah over to the insurgents. Even then, the death toll was far below the worst month of Vietnam, April 1969, when the U.S. death toll was 543 at the height of American involvement there.

U.S. forces have been building up outside Fallujah for weeks in preparation for taking the city back, and many here believe the assault is likely to come soon.

Military officials say they expect U.S. troops will encounter not just fighters wielding AK-47s assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, but also heavy concentrations of mines, roadside bombs and possibly car bombs.

"We'll probably just see those in a lot better concentration in the city," said Maj. Jim West, an intelligence officer with 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

West said he thinks there are some 4,000 to 5,000 fighters between Fallujah and nearby Ramadi, and they may try to draw troops into cramped urban areas in Fallujah that have been booby-trapped.

The toll in human suffering has already been grave.

Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict was on a convoy heading to the Fallujah camp last Saturday when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into the truck Benedict and his platoon mates were traveling on. A few minutes later, mortars and rifle fire rained down on the survivors. As he rolled toward the safety of a ditch, Benedict saw one of his friends crawling on all fours, with blood pouring from his face.

"You've got to expect casualties," said Benedict, 28. The fight for Fallujah, he said, "is overdue."

Eight Marines were killed in the bombing. Benedict is now recuperating in the field hospital with burns to his left hand and the side of his head.

In the six weeks Noyes has worked at the Fallujah camp, his team has operated on Marines with eyes gouged by shrapnel and limbs torn by explosion. A rocket strike outside the hospital killed two staff members and left deep pockmarks across the white concrete walls.

Noyes said some bodies have been so badly mangled that they had to be shipped home for DNA identification.

As Noyes was speaking Thursday, two Marines and a female American photojournalist were rushed into the hospital. A roadside bomb had hit their vehicle. The Marines had shrapnel cuts and burns, and the photographer's teeth had been pushed back into her mouth. The bomb was attached to a tank of gasoline, meant to create a fireball that didn't ignite.

Capt. Melissa Kaime, another Navy surgeon at the hospital, said that seeing trauma wounds in medical school is one thing; seeing them come off the battlefield is something altogether different.

"To treat a patient when (his) brain is coming out ... ," she said, before her voice trailed off. "There are things that I will never understand. It's beyond my comprehension; a higher power will have to explain why these things have happened."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Act Authorizes, Extends, Adds Medical Benefits for Guard, Reserve <br />
By Kathleen T. Rhem <br />
American Forces Press Service <br />
<br />
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2004 -- The 2005 National Defense Authorization Act,...