24th MEU Marines celebrate Christmas

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24th MEU Marines celebrate Christmas
Submitted by: 24th MEU
Story Identification #: 20041225142357
Story by Staff Sgt. Demetrio J. Espinosa



FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU (Dec. 25, 2004) --

As family and friends celebrated Christmas Eve back home in the United States, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit ushered in the holiday with a pre-dawn raid in a south-central Iraqi neighborhood suspected of sheltering a local insurgent leader.

Marines of the MEU's Force Reconnaissance platoon joined Iraqi security forces in a sweep through a warren of homes in Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad. Their target, Ali Kazar, eluded them, but the operation netted five other suspected militants.

While the counter-insurgency showed no signs of relenting, Marines and sailors here took time out to share a special holiday meal and to open gifts sent by family and friends.

Christmas dinner included turkey, ham and roast, and all the familiar trimmings. For dessert, the troops enjoyed pumpkin and pecan pie, pudding and ice cream. Egg nog and sparkling grape juice were also available.

The holiday respite was welcome but brief, as the 24th MEU continues to root out insurgents in northern Babil Province in advance of national elections in January.

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Ellie

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Marines recall Christmas past

By Gordon Trowbridge
Marine Corps Times

RAMADI, Iraq — Santa came on Christmas to the place the Marines call Snake Pit. But even he had to carry a rifle.
Inside the small fire base on the edge of Ramadi, Echo Company of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, celebrated the holiday with trucked-in holiday chow: ham, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, dressing and gravy driven from a nearby base in thermos containers. Three Marines Lance Cpls. Adam Suave, Brian Merren and Anthony Weaver dressed as Santa, Rudolph and a Christmas elf, remaining in costume even when their turn came to participate in firing range drills.

In one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq for U.S. troops, there was, if not peace on earth, at least a break from the storm of roadside bombs, car bombs and firefights 2nd Battalion has dealt with since arriving in September.

That wasn't the case on Christmas Eve. Navy Lt. Marc

Diconti, a Catholic priest and the battalion chaplain, had just finished saying evening Mass at Snake Pit and was on his way to another base near Ramadi when small arms fire forced his convoy to turn back and try the route again with more firepower.

During Mass, Diconti invited the Marines to offer holiday prayers, and quietly they did:

For our families back home, one said.

For the families of Marines who had been lost here, said another.

For the Iraqi people, that they might find peace, a third said.

A Marine read from the Old Testament's book of Isaiah, in which the prophet tells of a time when soldiers would take off their bloody uniforms and burn them, fighting no more.

For most Marines, though, the holiday was about missing home.

Gunnery Sgt. Adebol Osinowo, commander of Echo Company's quick reaction force, watched Marines eat their holiday meal and recalled many Christmases spent deployed far away.

"Even then, though, they were (in) nicer places," he said. "Tokyo, Australia. Nothing like this."

After finishing their ham and dressing, Osinowo's Marines boarded trucks at dusk to take over an observation post in the city, allowing the Marines assigned there to head to Snake Pit for their holiday meal.

In the darkened post, a government building gutted weeks ago by insurgent bombs, Marines traded stories of holiday traditions that some were missing for the first time.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy Calu said he missed a Christmas night tradition with an uncle; the two waited until the family dinner had broken up before heading to a bar in his hometown of Colorado Springs, Colo., to share a beer and laugh.

"You never think things like that are so important," he said, "until you miss them."


Ellie

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Bush spends Christmas with family, plans to visit marines

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) planned to pay a visit to marines stationed at his retreat north of Washington, where he was spending a "relaxing" holiday with his family, the White House said.


Bush was spending Christmas at Camp David in the state of Maryland with his wife, Laura; daughters Barbara and Jenna; his parents, former president George Bush (news - web sites) and Barbara Bush; and other family members, White House spokesman Taylor Gross said.


"The president and Mrs. Bush are having a peaceful and relaxing Christmas today at Camp David with their family," Gross said.


The first lady gave her husband a raincoat, while the president gave his wife dessert plates to complement her China pattern, Gross added.


Bush was due to visit marines stationed at Camp David in the early evening and pose for photos with the soldiers before heading to a family dinner to feast on turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries, cornbread dressing, gravy and pecan and pumpkin pie, the spokesman said.


In his weekly radio address broadcast earlier, Bush paid homage to US troops fighting in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), saying they "are helping to win the war on terror, and they are defending the freedom and security of us all."


Ellie

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U.S. Marines capture 2 militants

U.S. Marines captured two al-Zarqawi militants from an al Qaeda-allied group a day after a Baghdad gas tanker blast killed at least nine people.

By BASSEM MROUE

Associated Press


BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said Saturday it has captured two senior terrorists linked to Iraq's most feared Islamic militant group as police uncovered more bodies under the rubble a day after a suicide bomber blew up a gas tanker in an upscale Baghdad district.

The two detainees linked to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq network were identified as Saleh Arugayan Kahlil and Bassim Mohammad Hazeem.

''Both of these individuals were cell leaders for a local Zarqawi-affiliated terrorist group that is operating'' in the western province of Anbar that includes the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, U.S. Marines said in a statement.

Al Zarqawi's group recently changed its name to al Qaeda in Iraq and pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. It has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks against U.S. troops and government forces.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the gas truck explosion Friday night in the upscale Mansour district near the Libyan and Moroccan embassies, which killed at least nine people and demolished several houses. Police said it was a suicide attack.

Rescuers on Saturday uncovered seven more bodies under the rubble of one of the shattered houses. At least 14 people were seriously wounded by the blast which struck just hours after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld left the capital following an unannounced one-day visit to Iraq.

A witness of the blast, who identified himself only as Abdel Imam, said that the gas truck sped into the Mansour districts with lights turned off moments before its driver triggered the detonation.

There were no members of the multinational forces among the casualties. There were no injuries inside the embassies.

The Marine statement announcing the arrest of the suspected extremists said al Zarqawi's cell ''kidnapped and executed 11 Iraqi National Guardsmen,'' carried out car bombings and other attacks in the Ramadi area and ``smuggled foreign terrorists into the country.''

''This group is responsible for intimidating, attacking and murdering innocent Iraqi civilians, Iraqi police and security forces, and business and political leaders throughout the Anbar province,'' the statement said.

Violence has escalated across Iraq in the run-up to national elections scheduled for Jan. 30.

While majority Shiites have embraced the polls as a chance to assert their numerical strength, radical elements within the minority Sunni community are leading the campaign to prevent the vote.

Meanwhile, Iraqi police have arrested six men suspected to have organized last week's explosions in the Shiite holy city of Najaf that killed more than 50 people. Najaf's Governor Adnan al Zurufi said the six belonged to a ''terrorist cell.'' He did not release their identities or nationalities.


Ellie

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Marines Battle Insurgents in Fallujah

FALLUJAH, Iraq — U.S. Marine infantrymen fought with insurgents in Fallujah (search) on Thursday as warplanes and tanks bombarded guerrilla positions in the heaviest fighting here in weeks. The clashes raged as nearly 1,000 residents returned to the devastated city for the first time since U.S. troops drove out most of the militants last month.

At least three Marines were killed in combat that underlined how far the city and surrounding area are from being tamed as the United States and its Iraqi allies try to bring quiet before national elections Jan. 30.

American troops have also faced growing violence in the northern city of Mosul (search), where a blast ripped through a mess tent at a military base Tuesday, killing 22 people — most of them Americans. The homicide bomber believed to have carried out the attack was probably wearing an Iraqi military uniform, a U.S. general said Thursday.

The FBI has joined the investigation into the blast as the military reassesses security at bases across Iraq in light of the bomber's success in apparently slipping into the camp and entering a tent crowded with soldiers eating lunch.

In the center of Fallujah, F-18s (search) dropped several bombs, sending up plumes of smoke. Tank and machine gun fire could be heard to the south, while howitzers at Camp Fallujah southeast of the city boomed throughout the day. The guns fired illumination rounds after dark to help Marines on the ground spot attackers.

The military would not give specific figures for casualties in Fallujah, saying only that three Marines were killed in action Thursday in Anbar province, which surrounds the city. But a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the three deaths occurred in the Fallujah clashes.

While the fighting raged, hundreds of Fallujans spent hours lined up at a checkpoint northwest of the city, one of four entry points where people had to prove they lived in the Andalus district, a mostly commercial area in the heart of Fallujah that was the first neighborhood opened to residents.

Iraqi National Guardsmen hung small, colorful posters on concrete barriers that showed a crying girl and the words in Arabic, "Zarqawi killed her parents," a reference to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search), who was believed to have been in Fallujah before the U.S. attack. Another poster showed a father lifting his daughter to put a ballot in a voting box, meant to encourage people to vote Jan. 30.

Most of the people showed up on foot or shuttle buses, not having gotten word that authorities had changed their minds about allowing cars into the city. U.S. officials had wanted to keep vehicles out, to lessen the chances for car bombings, but Iraq's interim government insisted people be permitted to bring in their cars.

Officials said few people stopped by humanitarian centers set up around the city to offer food and other supplies. Huge tanks holding drinking water have been erected across Fallujah because the water system is still out of commission.

By the end of the day, 921 people had passed through the four checkpoints, 16 were turned back and one was detained, a U.S. military spokeswoman, Maj. M. Naomi Hawkins, said.

Officials said people may not have known they were allowed to go home, and more might come after announcements during weekly prayers at mosques Friday. They also said some people were waiting to hear whether it was safe to return — a question made more acute with the fighting.

"The word is slow to get out," said Lt. Col. Michael Paulk, a military spokesman. "They want to hear reaction from people who are coming to the city."

Many may be in for a shock. Marines have said many people staying in refugee camps near Fallujah did not seem to be aware of the extent of damage. Few buildings were left unscarred in the U.S. offensive, which began Nov. 8.

"This is all that's left of my property," one returnee said Thursday, waving a dusty blanket.

In footage by Associated Press Television News, the corpse of an elderly woman was visible in a destroyed house, lying face down in her black robe. It was not clear how long ago she was killed.

Others seemed undeterred by the destruction.

"We want to go back to Fallujah. We want to see whether our houses were looted or not," a man said. "Even if our houses were destroyed, we are ready to set up tents inside Fallujah."

American commanders have hailed the offensive to retake Fallujah as a major tactical victory. But pockets of insurgents remain in the city — and violence elsewhere in Iraq has continued, after many guerrillas apparently slipped out of Fallujah to operate elsewhere in central and northern Iraq.

Thursday's combat was the heaviest around Fallujah since a surge of fighting Dec. 10 that killed seven Marines, three Iraqi soldiers and about 50 insurgents.

Returning the estimated 250,000 Fallujans is a key step in the attempt to restore the city as the elections approach. U.S. and Iraqi officials have organized a gradual return to prevent a hard-to-control flood of people at the same time troops are engaged in persistent clashes with insurgents still in the city.

The violence in Fallujah and Mosul underscores the difficulty the United States and its Iraqi allies are facing in trying to bring off the election. Voter registration has not begun in either city, and the election could be seen as illegitimate if these two major cities and outlying areas don't take part.

The deaths of the three Marines, and the killing of a U.S. soldier by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Thursday, raised the number of U.S. troops who have died since the start of the war in March 2003 to at least 1,325, according to an unofficial count by The Associated Press.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Fallujah Marines get into the spirit

By Nick Wadhams
The Associated Press
Posted December 25 2004

CAMP FALLUJAH · With shouts of "Merry Christmas, devil dogs," Navy corpsmen clad in elf caps and antlers brought some cheer Friday to Marines spending the holidays in the Iraqi desert.

The group from the Navy's Bravo Surgical Company, which tends to the wounded at Camp Fallujah, crisscrossed the sprawling base in a seven-ton truck and a fire engine, singing Christmas carols to Marines who smiled, waved and took pictures.


Some Marines looked bemused when candy canes were tossed at their feet with shouts of "incoming!"

"We're getting to spend the holiday here, why not share it with the rest of the group," said Lt. Rex Macaspac, executive officer of the Navy medical unit. "I'm trying to make the most out it with what we have, trying to lighten everybody up, including myself."

Marines decked out the former Iraqi military base with lights and tinsel well before Christmas Eve. There is no snow, though it hailed briefly last week and the temperature has dipped below freezing in recent days.

The mess hall was decorated with red and green streamers, and camp buses all played Armed Forces Network radio's steady run of Christmas music.

Cards from children around the United States festooned the walls. "Merry Christmas I hope you do not got hurt realy bad," read a misspelled card signed Dylan. "Thank you for protecting our country."

A civilian contractor in a Santa Claus suit greeted Marines at the mess hall and joined doctors and nurses in singing Christmas carols.

Troops set up video conference calls with their families back home.

About 200 people gathered for an evening religious service led by chaplain Tom Thies. Because candles aren't allowed, it wrapped up with the lighting of glow sticks and a rendition of Silent Night.

Some chaplains went into Fallujah to minister to troops stationed there for weeks at a time, Thies said.

The Marines gained the nickname "devil dogs" from German soldiers during World War I.

On Friday, some of them were subdued as they contemplated a Christmas away from home.

This Christmas was 23-year-old Cpl. Erik Coy's first away from his family. He was matter-of-fact about missing the celebration and said he had kept in touch with relatives through the makeshift Internet cafe -- where computers are separated by plywood sheets and a 20-minute time limit keeps the long line moving.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Christmas Around the World: Navy corpsmen bring cheer to Marines in Iraq

The Associated Press

AMP FALLUJAH, Iraq - With shouts of "Merry Christmas, devil dogs," Navy corpsmen clad in elf caps and antlers brought some cheer yesterday to Marines spending the holidays in the Iraqi desert.
The group from the Navy's Bravo Surgical Company, which tends to the wounded at Camp Fallujah, crisscrossed the sprawling base in a seven-ton truck and a fire engine, singing carols to Marines who smiled, waved and took pictures. Some looked bemused when candy canes were tossed at their feet with shouts of "incoming!"

"We're getting to spend the holiday here, why not share it with the rest of the group?" said Lt. Rex Macaspac, executive officer of the Navy medical unit. "I'm trying to make the most out it with what we have, trying to lighten everybody up, including myself."

Marines decked out the former Iraqi military base with lights and tinsel well before Christmas Eve. There is no snow, though it hailed briefly last week and the temperature has dipped below freezing in recent days.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Troops Await Iraq Call-Up
Associated Press
December 26, 2004

CHICAGO - Kevin Lackey is eager to take what he's learned in the Marine Reserves into war in Iraq. Theresa Lackey can't bear to watch the news, for fear she'll see soldiers searching for the enemy in houses pockmarked by bullet holes - the kind of work her son has been training for.

The Lackeys live in suburban Chicago, but their story could be told from anywhere in the country. As accounts of the war and the soldiers fighting there dominate the headlines, there is a quieter story for more than 1 million National Guard and Reserve troops - waiting and wondering if they'll be sent to Iraq. Or sent back.

They've put their lives on hold, put off college, buying homes and cars, knowing they could join nearly 186,000 of their Guard and Reserve colleagues now on active duty, more than 60,000 of whom are in Iraq or Afghanistan.

They've said their goodbyes only to be told at the last minute they're not going anywhere - not yet, anyway - as their families brace for their deployment.

Kevin Lackey, 20, said his commanders were so sure his unit was going to be activated and deployed to Iraq this fall, "They told us to make our wills, tell family members to have a life without you and life with you in a combat zone. Then that fell through."





"It's like a roller coaster," said Theresa Lackey. That's particularly true during the holidays, which she suspects will be her son's last at home before he ships out. "It makes us all more desperate to spend time with him."

Matt Comeaux also uses "roller coaster" to describe the last few months. A sergeant in the Illinois National Guard, Comeaux said he learned last spring that his battalion was being activated in November or December.

Knowing he would be gone for 18 months, the 36-year-old divorced father moved out of the house he was renting and put his belongings in storage. He even found a new home for his dog.

"How do you ask somebody to baby-sit your dog for a year-and-a-half?" he asked.

A couple months before the unit was to leave, though, Comeaux found out he wasn't leaving because "there wasn't enough slots at my rank for me to go with my battalion."

After being told he was next up if someone of his rank needed to be replaced, he found out he would not be going at all. Then, almost as soon as he told his 13-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter that he was staying home, he started hearing that he might be deployed after all.

In November, he was told he was being activated - in one week. "I get to see my kids two weekends a month," Comeaux said. "I didn't think I would be able to say goodbye to my kids."

About two days later, those orders were canceled, too.

Such uncertainty is a reality of being at war, when needs for more troops can change rapidly, said Major Tim Franklin, spokesman for the Illinois Army National Guard. "Those decisions are made at the Pentagon and (U.S. Army Forces Command) based on the needs of commanders on the ground in Iraq," he said. "And those needs change."

Comeaux isn't angry but describes the situation as "very emotional."

"It's up and down, not knowing what is going on," said Comeaux, who is staying at a friend's house, living out of a suitcase.

Comeaux said most of the guardsmen he knows don't want to go to Iraq, and some cringe when he calls to give them an update. But even those who cringe are willing to go. "They know that's their job," he said.

The wait is tougher for many because they are afraid to make long-term plans. Lackey has delayed enrolling in Western Illinois University as well as buying a car. And Comeaux doesn't bother looking for another place to live yet.

Some, like Corey Wilson, try to make plans. They just keep getting interrupted.

"I joined (to pay) for school," said Wilson, a mechanic with an Army National Guard unit in Peoria. "When I enlisted, I figured we'd never get deployed except for a flood or something."

But since January 2003, he's reported for duty thinking he was being deployed to Kosovo. He came home when those orders were canceled, enrolled in Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and dropped out two weeks later when his unit was sent to Iraq for 15 months.

Wilson is back at SIU, but he can be called back to active duty for the next 3 1/2 years - something he expects to happen.

"I'm still a 21-year-old freshman, and if I go again I will be like 30 when I graduate from college," said Wilson.

As tough as the wait is for Wilson, he said it may be tougher on his mother.

"As a parent, I wouldn't have let him sign up if I thought there was any chance of going to war," said Barbara Wilson.

Now she finds herself worrying about her son going back to a war that she doesn't agree with. "That's the worst part for me," she said. "Going into harm's way for no good reason.

Ellie

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Marine treasures family time before returning to Iraq
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By RACHEL URANGAI
Los Angeles Daily News
Dec. 26, 2004

CANYON COUNTRY - Every hour with his wife and three daughters is precious to Sgt. Martin Lopez -- especially this Christmas.

Any day now, the 31-year-old Marine reservist will be getting orders sending him back for another tour of duty in Iraq. And even though he and his wife, Luz, worry it could be their last Christmas together, Lopez feels fortunate.

''The price of freedom comes to mind now,'' he said. ''There are troops over there and they can't be with their families. I am thankful I am here with my family. I can't take this for granted.''

This time last year, Lopez had just come home from Iraq -- a situation that makes the celebration of this Christmas bittersweet.

''We had just gotten adjusted. We just got over this separation,'' said Luz, 30, as she stroked her 15-month-old daughter's curly black hair. ''Now he is going to have to leave again and it's going to be harder this time.''

So Luz and Martin are putting on a brave face and treasuring every moment with their daughters -- Vanessa, 7, Marianna, 5, and Annalisa, born Aug. 21, 2003, while Martin was overseas.

They've concentrated on their time as a family -- shopping for Christmas presents, decorating the tree, and spending quiet nights together at home.

''We're trying to make this as special as possible,'' Luz said.

Like Martin Lopez -- a maintenance supervisor for a Santa Clarita property management company -- hundreds of other Southern Californians will be saying goodbye to their families early next year and heading for war-torn Iraq.

''It's obvious we are leaving really soon. We just don't know the date, but we are doing mobilization exercises. We are updating battle rosters and getting new crew assignments,'' Lopez said.

Marine officials at Camp Pendleton declined to provide deployment dates. But they estimated that two-thirds of the 35,000-strong 1st Marine Expeditionary Force -- to which Lopez is assigned -- will soon be on their second deployment.

During his first tour of duty with the 4th Light Armor Reconnaissance Battalion, Lopez spent six months in Iraq, much of it roaming the country searching for insurgents looking to attack U.S. troops.

Two of Lopez' buddies were killed in a roadside bombing and a third in a vehicle accident. He's heard story after story from the battlefield about how it is increasingly dangerous to drive the streets of Iraq.

''It's a lot more dangerous out there,'' said Lopez, who commanded about 330 Marines, most under 25, when he was in Iraq.

Luz knows it is her husband's duty to return to combat and said she was thankful for the time -- a little more than a year -- the family has had with him since his return.

''I have really gotten used to him taking the girls to school, picking them up from my mom's and eating dinner together. He even helps me clean the house and do the laundry,'' she said.

His daughters were his salvation when he last served, sending him drawings and cutout pictures of themselves. Vanessa, his eldest, always made sure to paste a cutout red heart on all the envelopes.

He kept the stack of letters in the tank he traveled in, a constant reminder that the gunfire would end one day. In his most dire hours, he retreated to those letters.

Over the past few months, Lopez has been trying to make the time spent with his daughters special, accumulating the memories because he knows that is all he will have once deployed. He's taken them to Disneyland, on shopping trips and to grandma's.

''I am not going to see my oldest daughter's first Communion. And I will be missing out on my youngest daughter's developing her first few words, first few sentences, all those little things,'' Lopez said as a bright-eyed Annalisa grasped her daddy's knee.

So, last week he went to the mall and purchased a stuffed bear that allowed him to record his voice.

Push the bear's paw and out comes Lopez' soft voice, ''Merry Christmas, Annalisa. Love Daddy.''

''It's so I am always near,'' he said with a smile.


Ellie

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Newest twist in Hassoun case raises eyebrows <br />
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By Robert Gehrke <br />
The Salt Lake Tribune <br />
Dec. 26, 2004 <br />
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WASHINGTON...