Real ‘devil dog’ has positive effect on unit

[thedrifter]

Real ‘devil dog’ has positive effect on unit
Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler
Story Identification #: 2005320223241
Story by Lance Cpl. Martin R. Harris



KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, Japan (March 18, 2005) -- Courageously standing guard against any type of suspicious baggage or nuisance rodents bothering his Marines, the unofficial mascot of the Landing Support Company Detachment here has been considered part of the team since the day he arrived.

Rocky, a five-month-old English bulldog, is a stellar performer and morale booster for the Marines with Marine Corps Air/Departure Airfield Control Group, Landing Support Company Detachment, 3rd Transportation Support Battalion, 3rd Force Service Support Group, on K-5 Right here, explained Sgt. Samuel C. Hayes, Rocky’s owner and noncommissioned officer in charge of K-5 Right.

The Marines in the unit often work in 24-hour shifts, loading and unloading Marine Corps aircraft on the flight line. Rocky’s job here is to keep the Marines motivated, Hayes explained.

The devil dog’s place in the unit and the Corps is noteworthy since Rocky was born on Nov. 10, the same birthday as the Marine Corps’.

“I didn’t know that (Rocky) was born on the Marine Corps birthday until after I bought him,” said Hayes who has always wanted an English bulldog. “His birthday was a total coincidence. It was just lucky.”

“Rocky, or Pvt. Rocky as some of the Marines at K-5 Right call him, has very important duties here,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph V. Standifird, staff noncommissioned officer in charge of K-5 Right. “Rocky keeps the detachment safe by accompanying the Marines during their daily tasks and serving as an excess food disposal system.”

Rocky’s presence sits very well with the junior Marines assigned to the detachment, Hayes explained.

“I bring Rocky in because it seems to be a real morale booster for the younger Marines,” Hayes said. “Many of my Marines have expressed how much they missed having a dog around. I’m glad that Rocky can bring them a little piece of home.”

For many of the Marines with the detachment, having Rocky around is a great way to lighten the work environment, explained Pfc. Chris R.V. Lowe, a landing support specialist with the detachment.

“Working here, sometimes in 24-hour shifts, can get very stressful,” Lowe said. “Rocky lightens the mood for us and the weary passengers that land here.”

According to Lance Cpl. James M. Hido, also a landing support specialist, Rocky recently had a motivating effect on a group of Marines returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“As I was walking Rocky, Marines who were off-loading the (aircraft) walked by and noticed Rocky,” Hido said. “The Marines told me a story about how they had a unit mascot in Iraq, but that it was just a stray cat. They were excited and happy to see a ‘Marine bulldog’ as a mascot.”

Rocky still has a lot to learn, but the senior leadership here is doing its part by enrolling the young “devil dog” in Marine Corps Institute correspondence courses on basic nutrition and the fundamentals of Marine Corps leadership, Standifird joked.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Ambushed GIs Kill 26 Militants
Associated Press
March 22, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers, ambushed by dozens of Iraqi militants near the infamous "Triangle of Death," responded by killing 26 guerrillas in the largest single insurgent death toll since last fall's battle for Fallujah, the U.S. military said Monday.

The high number of deaths in Sunday's daylight battle south of Baghdad was attributed to the large number of attackers, unusual in a country where most clashes are carried out by small bands of gunmen or suicide bombers.

"I was surprised at the numbers," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, a squad leader for the 617th Military Police Company of Richmond, Ky., and a native of Henryville, Ind., involved in the firefight. "Usually we can usually expect seven to 10."

As the U.S. military reported that and other successes against the insurgency, attackers struck several times Monday, killing seven civilians and three Iraqi soldiers. A roadside bomb in Aziziyah, 35 miles southeast of Baghdad, killed four women and three children, police said.

Reporting on Sunday's big firefight, the U.S. military said MPs and artillery units from the Kentucky National Guard were traveling along a road 20 miles southeast of Baghdad around noon when 40 to 50 militants emerged from a grove of trees and a roadside canal firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.




The soldiers returned fire, killing or wounding all the insurgents in a field and driving away those attacking from the canal. Seven Americans were reported wounded, but no details were given on their conditions. Commanders said seven wounded insurgents and one unwounded attacker were captured.

The guerrilla death toll - 26 - was the highest in a single clash in Iraq since U.S. forces took control of the formerly insurgent-held city of Fallujah west of the capital.

In late December, an attack on a U.S. military outpost in Mosul resulted in the deaths of 25 insurgents and one U.S. soldier.

Military officials said the road where Sunday's attack occurred has seen a surge in violence against coalition forces, including an ambush Friday in nearly the same spot that killed a foreign driver. They blame a nearby village believed to be an insurgent hideout.

After the battle, U.S. troops recovered six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 16 rockets, 13 machine guns, 22 assault rifles, more than 2,900 bullets and 40 hand grenades.

It was one of several blows to the insurgency that were reported Monday.

A pre-dawn raid Monday by U.S. and Iraqi forces in Kirkuk captured 13 people believed tied to a fatal attack on a local police officer and the bombing of his funeral procession that killed three more officers. Thirty other suspects were detained Friday in Karbala.

U.S. officials also said two suspects were arrested in the suicide bombing Sunday that killed the anti-corruption director in the northern city of Mosul, Walid Kashmoula.

In addition, they said 10 men captured by Iraqi soldiers last week had confessed to staging a March 9 suicide bombing in Baghdad using a garbage truck near the Agricultural Ministry and a hotel favored by Westerners. At least four people, including the attackers and a guard, were killed in that attack.

Officials also said two insurgents were killed and two wounded in two separate incidents when they were found digging roadside holes for homemade bombs in Salaheddin province north of Baghdad.

In violence Monday:

-A U.S. Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was killed in Anbar province in western Iraq, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

-An Iraqi solider died and four were wounded when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in western Baghdad. Also in the capital, gunmen in two speeding cars fired at an Iraq army foot patrol, killing one soldier and wounding one.

-Another Iraqi soldier was killed in Sherqat, 160 miles north of Baghdad, when a mortar shell struck his army camp.

-The head of the police force in Baghdad's Kazimiyah neighborhood, Col. Mou'yad Farhan, escaped unhurt when gunmen shot at his car but his driver suffered serious injuries.

-In Samarra, a pickup truck driven by a suicide bomber exploded prematurely near a hospital, wounding about a dozen civilians and damaging homes.

On the diplomatic front, Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday ordered his top envoy in Iraq to return to his post, just one day after recalling him over Iraqi claims that Jordan was allowing insurgents to slip across the border, Jordan's official Petra news agency said. Iraq also withdrew its envoy from Jordan in the tit-for-tat withdrawals by the two neighbors.

Political negotiations to form a coalition government remained snagged in a disagreement between Shiite Arabs and Kurds.

The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite clergy, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was expected to meet Wednesday with Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader likely to become Iraq's next president.

The 140 seats won by the Shiite alliance in the Jan. 30 elections is the biggest bloc of seats in the new National Assembly, but it needs the support of the Kurds' 75 deputies to have enough votes to form a government.

The Kurds want the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk to be returned to the autonomous Kurd region as soon as the government convenes, but an official from al-Sistani's office said he wants the issue handled in the constitution to be drafted by the National Assembly.

Former dictator Saddam Hussein drove Kurds from their homes in Kirkuk and the surrounding region and replaced them with Iraqi Arabs.

A senior member of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, Ahmad Chalabi, told Al-Arabiya television that the Kurds also wanted the powerful ministry of oil position in the new Cabinet.

Shiites make up about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, while Sunni Arabs account for about 20 percent. Kurds, who are Sunni Muslims but mostly secular, are 15 percent to 20 percent.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Virginia Ready For Scrutiny Of Bases
Daily Press
March 22, 2005

Texas spent $250 million to buy land around its military installations, an effort to make them more attractive and less likely to get the ax in the upcoming round of base closings.

Alabama is picking up the tab for a $6 million military training facility.

Florida is paying unemployment compensation to military spouses who give up jobs when forced to relocate because of reassignments.

Missouri and Mississippi hired high-priced Washington, D.C., lobbyists.

The current round of military base closings is a high-stakes war pitting state against state, city against city, politician against politician. As many as a quarter of the nation's 450 military bases are eligible for the chopping block.

On the surface, Virginia doesn't appear to have done an awful lot to prepare for this round of base closings, but state officials insist that what reasonably can be done by this point has been done.




Information was collected. Arguments were mustered. Politicians prepared.

The state appropriated $700,000 for studies and consultants. An impressive panel of retired admirals and generals was marshaled to lead the upcoming defense of Virginia's military bases. The state's congressional delegation is ready to flex its political muscle.

State lawmakers have enacted military-friendly measures, including easing paperwork needed for newly assigned active-duty personnel to obtain state drivers licenses, and waiving the one-year residency requirement to be eligible for in-state tuition rates at state colleges and universities.

Now comes the calm before the thunderstorm.

May 16 is D-Day for bases nationwide -- the day the Pentagon will announce which installations it wants to close or consolidate to save at least $7 billion in a cash-strapped national defense budget.

At that point, Virginia will launch a major offensive -- bolstered by economic, military and social-impact data -- to save any of its bases slated for closing or consolidation.

"Virginia is as ready as Virginia can get," said former congressman Owen Pickett, chairman of the state's base retention commission. "Could we have spent more money? Sure. Would it have made a difference? I don't think so. I really don't think there's a thing more we can do."

State officials will rely on Pickett's commission -- packed with three- and four-star generals -- to make their case to the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission, known as BRAC. That panel, nominated last week by the White House, will review the Pentagon's closing list and decide whether to add or drop bases.

State officials also look for Sen. John Warner to wield his influence. The Virginia Republican is a veteran lawmaker, former secretary of the Navy and powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The military benefits of each base will be a key factor in the commission's decision-making process, of course, but other factors also will be considered, including the encroachment of urban sprawl, the possibility of combining different branches of the armed forces on the same base, and the quality of life around a base.

"I think states are anxious," said Tara Butler, the National Governors Association's base-closing expert. "There's no question about that. The Pentagon has made it clear time and time again that all bases are being evaluated, that no base is safe because of its uniqueness."

Virginia has some natural things going for it that other states don't have, so it doesn't need to shell out money it doesn't have for infrastructure improvements or well-heeled lobbyists, state officials figure.

For one, Virginia's location as a mid-Atlantic coastal state makes it a perfect staging area for troops being sent overseas or brought home from military action, said Gov. Mark Warner.

And the state has 400 years of support for the armed forces to its credit, backing other states now appear to be attempting to demonstrate, he added.

"While the commonwealth of Virginia from the beginning has funded and strongly supported every military facility in the state, the commonwealth has no lobbyist and has no public relations firm," said Joe Reeder, former undersecretary of the Army and the vice chairman of the state's base retention commission. "We frankly do not believe anything in the BRAC proceedings will turn on lobbying or on public relations."

Another card in Virginia's favor: Many bases here already are used jointly by different branches of the military, something the Pentagon is aiming to increase in base consolidations to be ordered in this round of base closings, said Art Collins, executive director of Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.

His group has spent $200,000 of the state's money for BRAC consultants to compile local base information and arguments to be used if the Pentagon puts a local base on the closing list.

Perhaps the biggest issue on everyone's mind this year is a Pentagon evaluation of the effect of civilian encroachment on military bases in deciding whether to keep those bases open.

Collins said he fears what other states have been doing to make their bases more attractive to the Pentagon -- high-priced efforts to build new roads and bridges and buy open space around bases to insulate the military from urban sprawl.

"Virginia traditionally hasn't done that," said Collins, "I worry about that a lot, all those efforts to make them BRAC-proof."

Two years ago, Texas approved the $250 million Texas Military Value Loan Fund, in part to buy land around its military bases.

Corpus Christi wants to use $5.2 million for infrastructure improvements around Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, and the city of Temple plans to build a $3.5 million hangar at a helicopter repair facility near Fort Hood.

Alabama is shelling out $100 million for construction projects that could increase the value of its four bases, worth $14 billion to the state's economy. Roughly $40 million has been spent for maintenance and hangars for the Air National Guard at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base.

Alabama also will spend approximately $6 million on a new training center near Fort Rucker, and local residents have been loudly proclaiming they don't mind the helicopter noise from that base.

Noise has been a chronic complaint in Virginia Beach, where many residents hate the jet noise that comes with the busy Oceana Naval Air Station.

To lessen the appearance that residents are antagonistic toward the Navy, the General Assembly last month authorized the construction of noise-reduction barriers around residential communities near the base.

Another bill that passed requires real estate agents to inform prospective homebuyers in writing that jet noise is an issue to some of their neighbors. People who know about the problem have less standing to complain, lawmakers figured.

Lawmakers never seriously entertained the idea of buying property around the base to build a bigger buffer zone. It would have been too expensive.

North Carolina, however, spent $20 million to buy land near its bases to protect them from both civilian development and this round of base closings.

Arizona bought $10 million of open land to prevent urban encroachment on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

In South Carolina, officials so feared a repeat of 1995 -- when BRAC closed the Charleston Navy Base and Shipyard, costing 22,000 military jobs -- that the state set up a $25 million fund to help South Carolina communities buy land near their bases.

Missouri hired a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm called Birdeshaw Associates to help protect its bases. The state of Mississippi and some of its communities combined to pay $300,000 last year for Washington-based consultant Barry Rhoads and his firm to help coordinate base-saving preparations.

Rhoads has been Mississippi's base-closure lobbyist since 1993, before the last round of BRAC base closings. His contract requires the state to put up $800,000 from July 2002 to June 2006, in addition to $364,000 to be paid by nine communities that neighbor the state's military bases.

Last year, Florida burnished its image as a military-friendly state by approving new benefits to service members and their families.

That support includes waivers of residency requirements to allow children of military parents into specialty education programs. The state also granted unemployment compensation to military spouses who lose their jobs because of Pentagon-ordered relocations, something Virginia's lawmakers shot down last month.

Florida was brazen about the message it was sending to the military.

"Today, I am signing several pieces of legislation designed to provide support for military families in Florida and to ensure that our communities and military installations continue to build strong relationships," Gov. Jeb Bush said at the time.

Florida is home to 21 military bases and three unified commands. The city of Mayport is maneuvering to convince the Navy to move one of five Norfolk-based nuclear aircraft carriers there after it retires the carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

"We are not playing catch-up in Virginia," said Reeder. "Indeed, we applaud any state for making its facilities attractive to the military, even if that means playing catch-up to Virginia."

Florida's efforts to make itself appear more friendly to the military doesn't compare to Virginia's 400 years of support for the armed forces, said retired Gen. John Foss of Williamsburg, a former commander of Fort Bragg, N.C., and of the Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe.

The large number of military veterans who chose to retire in Virginia -- roughly 730,000 -- shows rank-and-file preference for the state, Foss noted.

"They could retire anywhere, but they choose here," he said. "If a service has a good feeling about a place ... it makes it harder to pick a base to be closed. Many service personnel have a good feeling about Virginia."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Artists Make Portraits Of U.S. War Dead
Associated Press
March 22, 2005

WASHINGTON - Row after row of photos in a newspaper, each the likeness of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, were the inspiration for an artistic tribute to those who lost their lives in the conflicts.

"Faces of the Fallen," 1,327 individual portraits of the dead produced by 200 artists, opens to the public Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

The images, each 6-by-8 inches, are mounted on plain steel rods that reach to near eye level. Each rod includes a label with the soldier's name, hometown and date of death.

Five rows are arranged chronologically by the soldiers' times of death and stretch along a half-circle inside the small museum at the entrance to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. The number of images does not represent all those killed - that figure now is more than 1,600.

Annette Polan, head of the Corcoran College of Art and Design's painting department, said she was moved to create the memorial after seeing all the photos of dead soldiers displayed in a newspaper. She hopes it can have the same healing effect as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall.




Polan, 60, said she wanted to show that every death is an individual, each with their own hopes and dreams and memories. Artists were encouraged to show their own individuality and that of their subject.

A portrait artist herself who has painted Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Polan did nine of the collection's portraits. She assigned the others to artists she knew, either personally or through their work.

The artists worked mostly from newspaper and Internet photos, and some sent by families of the dead.

One particularly poignant portrait was done by John R. Phelps, a Vietnam veteran chosen to design the World War II memorial in Lander, Wyo. He painted his son, Marine Pfc. Clarence Phelps, who died April 9 from head wounds.

The artists, who donated their time and paid for all the materials, plan to give the portraits to the families when the exhibit is over, Polan said.

A large portion of the portraits were done conventionally, in color on canvas, but in other cases artists experimented with the images.

"As you view the image of your loved one, please bear in mind that each artist's hand and way of seeing is different from another's, just as each of our fingerprints are unique," Polan said in a Web site note to families. "All the artists have worked respectfully and from their hearts."

Jason Zimmerman, a Washington artist, said he took a photo, inserted it in a computer imaging program. manipulated it "to make a ghostly kind of image" and printed it on a heavy cotton fabric by ink-jet process.

Another artist molded low-relief images in clay. Another did scratch board drawings. Another did not portray faces at all, just flowers. The dead for whom no portraits could be made, for lack of photos or other reasons, are represented by generic black-and-white silhouettes.

The portraits will be on view at the memorial through Sept. 5. Admission is free. A Tuesday evening reception was planned for artists to meet family members of those they memorialized.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

North Korea Claims Nuke Arsenal Bolster
Associated Press
March 22, 2005

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea claimed Monday that it has bolstered its nuclear arsenal to prevent an invasion and its premier began a visit to China, which has been urging the North to resume talks on its nuclear program.

Premier Pak Pong Ju began his visit amid pressure to resume six-nation nuclear talks and American hints of possible sanctions if Pyongyang doesn't cooperate.

But the North's official broadcaster said ongoing joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises were "preparation for war against us," prompting the increase in nuclear arms.

"We have taken a serious measure by increasing nuclear arms arsenal in preparation for any invasion by enemies," the North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station said in a commentary, according to a report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

The North has frequently claimed it would increase its nuclear deterrent in response to the perceived threat of invasion by the United States, but the Monday announcement appeared to be the first time Pyongyang has claimed to actually do so.




The North's statement didn't elaborate on how its arsenal was increased. The United States has repeatedly denied it intends to attack North Korea.

Last month, the North's government said for the first time that it had nuclear weapons and would indefinitely boycott the six-nation talks that began in 2003 to resolve the crisis.

International experts believe North Korea has reprocessed enough radioactive material to make about a half-dozen nuclear bombs, but it hasn't performed any known nuclear tests that would confirm it has atomic weapons.

Monday's new claim came after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left the region following visits to Japan, South Korea and China to seek a way to convince the North to return to stalled six-nation disarmament talks, which also include Russia.

The North's Korean Central News Agency gave a terse report on Pak's departure, saying only he had left and the "official goodwill visit" was at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

However, it was expected that Chinese officials would discuss the recent visit by Rice and attempts to lure the North back to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. Washington has been looking to Beijing to increase pressure on its communist ally to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

Rice suggested during her trip that time is running out for the North to return to the negotiations, and that Washington will pursue other means - assumed to include U.N. Security Council sanctions - if Pyongyang refuses to return to the bargaining table. The United States has said it has no intention to attack the North.

China is the North's closest ally and a key benefactor providing needed energy aid and other assistance.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Roadside Bomb Targets U.S. Patrol
Associated Press
March 22, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants targeted a U.S. patrol with a roadside bomb Tuesday that killed four nearby civilians in the northern city of Mosul, where an assassination attempt against top police officials sparked clashes that left more than two dozen insurgents dead or captured.

Attackers ambushed a convoy late Monday carrying Mosul security force officials, including top police chief Brig. Gen. Abu Al-Waled, sparking a gunbattle in front of a main mosque that left 17 militants dead and 14 detained, said Col. Wathiq Ali, deputy police commander.

Ali said no security forces were injured in the clash, which saw guerillas carrying mortar launchers, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles.

Insurgents have carried out countless attacks on Iraq's army and police - fledgling security forces the U.S. military says must gain better control of the country before any major U.S troop drawdown in Iraq, now in its third year of post-invasion conflict.

Mosul hospital officials citing witnesses said insurgents hit a U.S. patrol with a jerry-rigged bomb in a northwestern neighborhood early Tuesday, damaging a Humvee as it crossed a bridge and killing four civilians in a car near the blast.




It wasn't clear if U.S. troops suffered casualties. U.S. military officials weren't immediately available for comment.

Mosul residents said five mortar shells landed in a Kurdish enclave of the ethnically mixed city 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, injuring one.

And three rockets landed overnight on the town of Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad, killing one child, said a local police official, who asked not to be named fearing retribution from militants.

Gunmen in Baghdad killed a policeman as he drove to work early Tuesday in the southern Dora neighborhood, said police Lt. Col. Hafidh Al-Ghrayri.

The U.S. military on Tuesday reported the death of a Marine in a restive western province.

The Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, was killed in action Monday in Anbar province, which contains the flashpoint cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, the U.S. military said in a statement.

No further details were given. The Marine's name was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

In neighboring Jordan, King Abdullah II on Monday ordered the return of Jordan's top diplomat in Iraq, a day after the two neighbors withdrew their envoys in a dispute over the infiltration of insurgents across the border, the official Jordanian news agency reported.

Officials at Iraq's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on whether the country would reinstate its representative to Jordan.

Petra reported that the king ordered the Jordanian charge d'affaires to return to the embassy in Baghdad "to keep the good relations between the two brotherly countries."

Iraq and Jordan engaged in a tit-for-tat withdrawal of envoys Sunday in a dispute over Iraqi claims that Jordan was failing to stop would-be insurgents from slipping across the border and allegations that a Jordanian had carried out a deadly suicide attack this month.

Both countries said the diplomats were being recalled for "consultations."

In a bid to heal the rift, Jordan's Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez met outgoing Iraqi President Ghazi Al Yawar and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Monday in Algiers, Algeria, where they are attending the Arab summit that starts Tuesday.

Petra quoted Fayez in Algiers as condemning the insurgency in Iraq and saying: "Terror knows no religion or nationality and Jordan has faced several terrorist attempts targeting its security and stability.

Tension between the two countries boiled over last week. At one point, Iraqi demonstrators angered over the alleged involvement of a Jordanian in a deadly suicide bombing hoisted the Iraqi flag at the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad.

And the leading political party, the United Iraqi Alliance, claimed Jordan was allowing insurgents to cross into Iraq.

On Tuesday morning, residents in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood surveyed homes splattered with shrapnel in a late Monday mortar barrage that knocked out windows and felled walls. No casualties were reported.

Seeking to seal a political deal after Jan. 30 elections, the Shiite-clergy's spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was expected to meet Wednesday with Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader likely to become Iraq's next president.

The Kurds want the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk to be returned to the autonomous Kurdistan region immediately after the government convenes, but an official from al-Sistani's office said the spiritual leader wants the country's new National Assembly to decide that in Iraq's future constitution.

Former dictator Saddam Hussein conducted ethnic cleansing in Kirkuk and the surrounding region, driving Kurds from their homes and replacing them with Iraqi Arabs.

A senior member of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, Ahmad Chalabi, told Al-Arabiya television that the Kurds also wanted the powerful ministry of oil position in the new government Cabinet.

Shiites won 140 of the 275 seats in the new National Assembly. The Kurds, with 75 seats, emerged as a main powerbroker, but the two groups have been unable to come to an agreement over Kirkuk.

Shiites make up about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, while Sunni Arabs make up about 20 percent. Kurds, who are Sunni but mostly secular, are another 15 to 20 percent.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Two Labs Confirmed Pentagon Anthrax
United Press International
March 22, 2005

WASHINGTON - Anthrax has been confirmed in samples collected from the two Pentagon mail facilities that were at first closed last week and then declared free of the pathogen, United Press International has learned.

The head of the company that was accused of contaminating the samples sent from those facilities -- a detached building on the Pentagon grounds in Arlington, Va., and the other in Falls Church, Va. -- said the presence of anthrax was detected independently by two government laboratories.

Robert B. Harris, president and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. in Richmond, Va., also said the anthrax found was the same genetic strain used in the 2001 attacks.

The dispute over the possibility of contamination -- suggested to the media by an anonymous source -- became more heated as an automated alarm warned of anthrax at yet a third Washington-area mail room Friday. That third alert, at Bolling Air Force Base, was triggered by automated sensors -- as were the alerts earlier in the week at the two other facilities.

The week of anthrax alarms began when the Pentagon mail facility was closed March 14, after tests on samples taken there the week before had been found positive for the presence of anthrax. The initial samples, consisting of swabs of surfaces from the facility, had been collected March 10, but the results were not received and the facility was not shut down until March 14.




The delay was not the fault of CBI, Harris said, noting CBI had tested more than 2,000 similar samples in the past two years and reported its results within 24 hours.

"We reported our initial ...findings on (March 11)," Harris told UPI. "Our contracting officer told us to continue testing for further analysis over the weekend -- and that was done. On Monday ... the 14th we communicated additional test results to our contracting officer. From CBI's point of view, there was absolutely no delay in reporting the results."

CBI is a sub-contractor that conducts routine testing. The identity of the prime contractor who received the results is unclear. Defense Department spokesman Glenn Flood told UPI the four-day delay was being investigated.

Harris also took issue with the anonymous suggestion in news reports that his lab had contaminated the original sample from the Pentagon site.

"It is a fact that we had a presumptive positive test come up," he said. "That presumptive positive test was confirmed by us and by at least two other labs as being a true positive."

Carlee Vander Linden, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, Md., which tested the samples after CBI, confirmed that the follow-up tests on the first sample were positive and that two labs had done such tests.

"There is a component of the Homeland Security Department that has a laboratory that is located in our building," Vander Linden explained. "They have a presence here at Fort Detrick. The samples were basically parted out and there was analysis done by USAMRIID and by the forensics lab under DHS. I know that the negatives that we got were on the ones that came directly from the (mail) facility and did not pass through the contractor. The positives that we got were on samples that had been handled already by the people in Virginia."

Vander Linden also said: "USAMRIID is not saying that, 'Gee, there probably was a contamination event.' I think some people are surmising that. It certainly has been reported that way. I think that we'll just have to wait and see."

A DHS lab did conduct confirmatory tests, said Terry Bishop, a spokesman for DOD Health Affairs, but he did elaborate on the results.

"It is in our mind that this was truly a positive sample," said Harris, adding that his technicians had done everything possible to minimize contamination and were reviewing their lab and procedures.

"I emphasize," Harris said, "in over 2,000 of these samples and tens of thousands ... of other samples we have never experienced a false-positive test."

In response to a question from UPI, Harris confirmed CBI also had conducted other tests on the anthrax sample, but he would not reveal the results.

"There are lots of tests -- biochemical, morphological, genetic," Harris said, "all kinds of laboratory analyses that can be done to further qualify the type of pathogen we are looking at and those tests have been done."

Harris also said the anthrax in the initial samples was the same strain as the organism used during the first anthrax attack via U.S. Mail facilities in the fall of 2001. This was not surprising, however, he said, because it is the most common strain.

Questions over the first alarm were still swirling when the third alarm sounded last Friday at Bolling, which is located along the Anacostia River in Washington, in a mail-handling facility used by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

"This morning, the DIA remote-delivery facility was closed due to an initial positive test of incoming mail for hazardous biological agents," Defense Department spokesman Maj. Paul Swiergosz told UPI last Friday afternoon.

Personnel on the scene were asked to stay, Swiergosz said, and local officials were called. An FBI team conducted further tests.

As of late Friday, the follow-up tests at the scene had been negative, said FBI spokeswoman Debbie Weierman. Additional tests were planned at a laboratory.

The Bolling alert and the Pentagon closing were two of three anthrax-related events last week. The third, an alert in a mail room of a Defense Department complex of leased offices in Falls Church, delayed the departure of hundreds of people for hours and closed the offices for several days.

The week's events raised concern about cross-contamination from a source of anthrax somewhere in the Defense Department mail system. All of the alerts occurred in defense-related mail facilities and in each case the alerts were specific for anthrax, several federal and local DOD spokesmen confirmed during the week.

The bioweapons sensors were not connected, UPI was told repeatedly by the spokesmen. The sensors in Fairfax and at Bolling were automatic and did not involve any CBI testing.

UPI also was told by a Defense Department spokeswoman that, in at least one case, the alerts followed the mail flow. Specifically, the mail from the Pentagon site could have moved to the Falls Church location.

The Pentagon is working to gather more than 8,000 pieces of mail that moved through its detached facility between March 10 and March 14.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Fighting 13th enters TRUEX 05-1
Submitted by: 13th MEU
Story Identification #: 200532114225
Story by Cpl. Andy Hurt



GEORGE AIR FORCE BASE, VICTORVILLE, Calif. (March 20, 2005) -- Elements of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit came together this morning as the main body arrived for the 05-1 Training in an Urban Environment Exercise.

The exercise, dubbed “TRUEX,” is part of the MEU’s six-month pre-deployment work-up training in preparation for this summer’s WESTPAC-05 deployment.

Battalion Landing Team 2/1, the ground combat element for the MEU, began the training by establishing a defensive perimeter around their stronghold.

“Right now, we’re fortifying our strong point for our defense and clearing fields of fire,” said Lance Cpl. David Seitter, 2nd squad leader, 1st platoon, G Company.

Seitter added that although many of his Marines recently joined the company, his unit would be ready for the upcoming “pump.”

As Marines from HMM-163, “Evil Eyes,” the aerial combat element of the MEU set up across the operating area, C Battery 1/11 dug in defensive fighting positions.

It was a bustling day around the Combat Operations Center, as officers and staff buzzed around the metaphorical hive feeding information to the 13th MEU commanding officer Col. James K. LaVine, tailoring the exercise to the specific needs of the unit while training aboard the former Air Force base, now training facility.

As the week progresses, the MEU, under the direction of the Special Operations Training Group, will push its limits in order to build momentum for the Special Operations Capable Exercise (SOCEX), the final test of readiness for deployment.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

1/6 hits the ground in Baharia, prepares for busy deployment
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200532122338
Story by Cpl. Mike Escobar



CAMP BAHARIA, Iraq (March 17, 2005) -- As he rests atop a dirt mound, the noonday Iraqi sun beating down on his face, Pfc. Mitchel T. Caluri wonders how the next seven months will unfold for him and his unit.

"This is going to be my first deployment, and it's been pretty good so far," stated the mortarman with 3rd Combined Anti-Armor Team Platoon, Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. "I'm looking forward to going on patrol and doing our missions."

The final elements of the 19-year-old Stetson, Maine native's unit, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, arrived here March 17 to conduct security and stability operations in and around Fallujah.

The 2004 Central High School graduate's unit is replacing the California-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and will conduct operations from Camp Baharia outside Fallujah as well as bases inside the city.

1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment will work alongside Iraqi Security Forces to conduct patrols, raids and vehicle and personnel entry control points throughout the area to root out insurgents and confiscate illegal arms.

While they prepare to turnover with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Caluri and fellow Marines are seeing what facilities their home for the next seven months has to offer.

"It's actually pretty nice and comfortable in the camp," he said. "We're living in small houses with power and some plumbing."

However, he and fellow Marines agree that the camp's communication facilities are its best feature.

"The phone center and Internet café are my favorite," Caluri stated. "It makes keeping in touch with friends and family pretty simple."

Camp Baharia's Internet café provides Marines and sailors with access to several telephones and computers with Internet, web camera and instant messaging capabilities.

On their off time, troops may also attend religious services at the camp chapel, work out in the camp's gym tent, or purchase hygiene and entertainment supplies at the Baharia exchange.

Recreation needs aside, mission accomplishment is the number one concern on Caluri's mind.

"Our team will be escorting convoys going out to different areas around town to provide security. Right now, I'm just looking forward to getting started."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

2nd Marine Division assumes control of Al Anbar province
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20053215445
Story by Sgt. Stephen D'Alessio



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Ramadi, Iraq (March 17, 2005) -- The 2nd Marine Division's high operational tempo and level of training over the past few months have conditioned the unit for combat operations in its new area of responsibility -- the Al Anbar province.

The 2nd Marine "Tarawa" Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, is now heading up operations from Camp Blue Diamond here within the Sunni Triangle, replacing the 1st Marine Division after their successful 12-month tour.

Although this is the first time in years the 2nd Marine Division headquarters has been fully forward deployed, the unit's leadership is confident that the transition from the 1st Marine Division to the 2nd Marine Division will be very smooth due to the experience gained on prior deployments into volatile environments.

The recent deployments of many of the Tarawa Division's units have provided a wealth of experience and expertise from which to support its current mission in Iraq. Evidence of this can be found in the professionalism and experience each unit has displayed in operations around the globe.

One example of such a deployment was 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment's return from Haiti in June 2004, where they conducted four months of stability and security operations. There the Marines forged their skills in the cramped streets of Port-au-Prince applying many of the same techniques being used here in house-to-house security operations.

Many of the units currently deployed with the Tarawa Division have previously conducted similar operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan and are veterans of this type of counter-insurgency operations.

"We are a task organized Marine unit with an amalgamation of strengths from units all over the world," said Col. Bob Chase, 2nd Marine Division operations officer. "You can't tell me another unit in the world that can do that on such a large scale. We fight hard; we fight right."

This experience has also prepared the Marines of Tarawa Division to continue working with the local Iraqi Security Forces on security and stabilization operations, which began after Marine Corps units assumed control of the region more than a year ago.

"One of our main focuses here is training with the ISF," said Chase. "We'll see some fights out here, but the good news is we won't do it alone."

With the recent Iraqi elections, the local military has stepped into a larger role according to Chase. The Tarawa Division is taking action to help strengthen the bond between the Marines and the Iraqi Security Forces. In turn, it is the division's goal to share more of the responsibility for security and stabilization in the region with the ISF.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Commander of first American unit to cross Irqaq border reflects back on invasion

AP


Created: 3/20/2005 7:11:28 AM
Updated: 3/20/2005 7:31:30 AM


WASHINGTON (AP) - It was two years ago today that American troops launched their offensive in Iraq. The commander of the first U-S battalion to cross over says he remembers how all his Marines became quiet and businesslike as they headed in to what was for most of them, their first experience in battle.

Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Padilla (puh-DEE'_uh) says his unit was ordered to make its move about nine hours ahead of schedule, in order to guard Iraqi oil fields from sabotage. He says that within 10 minutes after crossing the border, Iraqi troops engaged them but were quickly repelled.

One of Padilla's platoon commanders died in the initial fighting. He was the first fatality of the war. Padilla says that memory - and recollections of the valiant wounded Marines who argued against being removed from the fight - remains with him to this day. Padilla says "I don't think you're supposed to forget." He says that's why we think long and hard before going to war.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Military funeral held at Misawa for retired Marine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, March 23, 2005

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Gunnery Sgt. Travis Warner gave the eulogy last week for a man he had met only once.

James Leroy Zeman, a retired Marine Corps sergeant major living in Morioka, died March 14, and a memorial service was held at the base chapel two days later.

As one of only two active-duty Marines at Misawa, Warner said it was his and Sgt. Christopher Brouch’s obligation to assist with funeral services.

“Marines take care of their own,” Warner said. Zeman, who died at the age of 77 after a long illness, had expressed his wish to have a military funeral at Misawa. The base is the closest U.S. military installation to Morioka, about 90 miles south of Misawa.

When a Marine dies, Warner said, the closest Marine unit is in charge of rendering the honors for the military ceremony portion of the funeral. Several years ago, Warner, another active-duty Marine and members of the Retiree Activities Office at Misawa helped Zeman arrange a military funeral and a will, since Zeman feared that local Japanese authorities wouldn’t understand his requests.

After Warner got the news that Zeman had died, “we turned to setting up the ceremony — we did it all in about a day, trying to figure out what the family’s wishes were,” he said. The retirees office helped arrange travel for Zeman’s only surviving daughter to Misawa, arranged the time at the chapel and wrote the memorial service program in concert with the base chaplain and Warner. The Air Force Honor Guard on base held the flag over the urn during the ceremony and an Army specialist provided music during the service, Warner said.

“It was a no-kidding, Misawa-base team effort,” he said.

Zeman retired in 1973 as a decorated combat veteran with 29 years of service, including a tour on Okinawa and two tours of duty in Vietnam. He is survived by his wife, Fumiko, who is hospitalized in Morioka after suffering a massive stroke about six years ago, and a daughter, Mie, also of Morioka.

About 250 military retirees live in the Tohoku area in northern Japan, including Hokkaido, said Dave Barton, a civilian employee at Misawa and retired Air Force chief master sergeant. Only three are retired Marines.

Warner, in his eulogy, talked about his visit with Zeman about three years ago.

“The retirees association at the time, told me he was in failing health and that it would do him good to see a couple of Marines,” he said. “We dressed up in our dress blues for the visit. Boy, he was just smiling from ear to ear. We actually caught a part of Marine Corps history and understood that because of Marines like him from his era, we’re able to enjoy the stuff we’re doing now. It also reinforced that Marines take care of their own.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Hamilton candy store welcomes returning veteran
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ROD DANIEL- Ravalli Republic

When John Eric DeGroot left for Marine boot camp almost five years ago, he had no idea what would await him upon his return. But now that he's home, the former Marine Corps sergeant couldn't have found a sweeter assignment.

DeGroot was discharged on July 21, 2004, and within weeks he began working at his family's candy store in Hamilton. And even though he was completely unfamiliar with the candy-making business, his penchant for following orders made him a quick study, according to his mom, Michele DeGroot.

"John Eric takes direction pretty well," she said. "He wasn't a sergeant for nothing."

Michele and John DeGroot, bought Big Sky Candy in January 2002, while their son was stationed in Egypt as part of Operation Bright Star. And once their treat-laden care packages to their son started arriving, John Eric became one of the most well-liked members of his platoon.

"I guess I was a pretty popular guy with my buddies," he said. "They got to sample all the different candies. I think the cinnamon glazed almonds were probably their favorite."

John Eric DeGroot worked full-time at the family's candy store from late August until January, when he started school full time in Missoula at the University of Montana pursuing a degree in business administration.

"I'm going to school on the G.I. Bill, and the whole plan is to apply the business models I learn to Big Sky Candy," he said. "I want to make it through school in three years if possible."

DeGroot attends classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each week, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays he puts in a half day at the candy store. And while many of his fellow servicemen and women are having a hard time readjusting to civilian life, he said his own transition has not been so difficult.

"I didn't do any real combat, so I'm not having to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder," he said. "The hardest part of my readjustment is seeing how the rest of the youth of America are living. Guys that are going to class at 8 a.m. are whining about having to get out of bed before 10. The atmosphere is very different from the military."

Initially, when he started working at the store, he ate a lot of candy, he said, but that subsided after a couple weeks - except for his one luxury.

"The one thing I need every day is a little sliver of plain fudge," he confessed.

After more than four years of following orders from his military superiors, taking cues from his mother is a little different, he said, and something he tries to avoid.

"Basically, I come in at 9 and start warming caramel in the double boiler," he said. "That takes about an hour, so I also heat the chocolate in a slow cooker. Then I get the list out, inventory the front case and make whatever needs making.

For Michele DeGroot, having her son join the candy-making team couldn't have come at a better time. Big Sky Candy has more customers than ever, and the succession of holidays from Christmas to Mothers' Day makes this a busy time of the year.

"Christmas is huge because it's so long," she said. "And Valentine's Day, Easter and Mothers' Day are all very popular. The longer we're in business the more popular the holidays are for us."

Since she and her husband purchased Big Sky Candy three years ago, DeGroot said the quality and selection of candies at the Main Street store has steadily improved. And while she couldn't say exactly how many different types of candies they make, she's confident it's more than 100.

"Basically everything in our display case is handmade from scratch in our kitchen here," she said. "We've got toffees, fudges, creams, chocolate-covered strawberries, beaver dams, ...."

In addition to the plethora of sweets made at the store, Big Sky Candy also features a wide selection of purchased confectioneries, including hard candies and suckers, jelly beans, and Montana-wild Huckleberry products.

DeGroot credits heredity and a lifelong devotion to baking for prompting her to get in the candy-making business, but aside from that she said she has no special training.

"I've always baked and cooked," she said. "And my grandmother's family were bakers in Holland. So for the most part I've just figured it out."

Some of the most popular candies include toffees, bear claws, truffles and creams, she said, and most people like to come in and mix and match to suit their sweet tooth's.

"We have a lot of regulars, and I know what they want," she said. "Sometimes they just come in and chat - that's the old-time candy store appeal."

While the majority of their business is from walk-in customers, a number of people order Big Sky Candy from the store's Web site - www.bigskycandy.com - although DeGroot has learned from experience when and when not to ship.

"I will not ship in the summer," she said. "And if people order from far away, I'll check the weather in the area before I send off a package."

While her son was overseas in the military, DeGroot acquired four different molds to honor a different branch of the service - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. She's still trying to find a mold for the Coast Guard.

And even though John Eric DeGroot knew nothing of candy-making before coming home last fall, his military experience helped him develop a few new candies.

"He came up with coconut and caramel glazed nuts to complement the cinnamon glazed nuts his buddies liked so much," she said. "We put them out and people really like them."

Big Sky Candy is located at 319 W. Main Street in Hamilton and is currently open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine In Iraq Simply Calls Home Depot For Needed Part
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 21, 2005
By Tracy Vedder
KOMO TV

SILVERDALE - We've heard the stories about troops in Iraq having problems getting the supplies and equipment they need. Well, a little hometown help made the difference for a group of Marines just back from Iraq.

After eight months in Iraq and Kuwait, Alpha Company is home. The reserve unit of 60 Marines were charged with keeping airfields in Iraq and Kuwait open.

It's been eight months since the marines of Alpha Company have seen their families.

"I can't even put it into words," says First Sgt. Bryan Hall. "It's great."

First Sgt. Hall is grateful to be home. And he brings back a special message for a group of friends and former co-workers in Silverdale: They made a huge difference for a successful tour in Iraq.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

You see, shortly after Sgt. Hall's Alpha Company arrived in Iraq, they had a problem. The battery charger for their power tools shorted out. It seems a small thing, but it could take weeks for supply channels to get it to the Marines.

But Sgt. Hall knew who to call.

"He said, 'I'm calling you from Iraq,' and I was, 'Everybody! I'm talking to Iraq!' " Mona Hernandez, the Assistant Manager for the Home Depot Store in Silverdale said. That's right, Sgt. Hall called Home Depot.

He used to work with Hernandez and her boss. And when they discovered he needed help?

"It was a matter of what can we do, how quickly does he need it and like I said, it went out within an hour or two," says Hernandez.

In three days, Hall and his Marines had their charger.

"It was something very simple but it was an important tool that we needed," says Hall, "they were there for us, absolutely."

An American flag, now flying over the Home Depot entrance, used to fly over First Sgt. Hall's Iraq base. He sent it home in gratitude, which is reciprocated by his friends at Home Depot.

"I'm probably more happy than anything that Bryan has returned," says Hernandez. "He's back with his family so that's really important to me."

In the grand scheme of things, a battery charger from Home Depot probably seems like a small thing. But we've heard from many troops in Iraq, the small things make a big difference.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

A look at the 'Faces of the Fallen'
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, March 22 2005

ARLINGTON, Va. - Spc. Brandon Tobler, an Army reservist from Portland, Ore., grew up with one mom.

But now that Tobler's life has ended - cut short at age 19 in a vehicle crash during a blinding sandstorm in Iraq on March 22, 2003 - the young soldier has two moms: his birth mother, and Washington portrait artist Annette Polan.

Now Tobler "is my baby, too," Polan said March 15, as she ran her fingers gently over the surface of the 6-inch-by-8-inch portrait she created for the new "Faces of the Fallen" project.

Polan traced a finger over the portrait's full lips.

"His mouth is so alive for me," she murmured. "I see it and think, 'I hope he had a girlfriend. I hope he had his first kiss.' "

The power of art to spark emotions in that manner - emotions a photograph may leave untouched - is what Polan and more than 150 volunteer artists are hoping to evoke with "Faces of the Fallen," an exhibition of 1,327 individual portraits of servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The exhibit, which opens to the public March 23 at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 5, includes portraits or silhouettes of every servicemember killed while deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom through Nov. 11, 2004.

Polan, a renowned portrait artist and professor of art at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, got her idea for the exhibit after her 81-year-old mother died in January 2004.

"I spent most of the winter," trying to deal with the grief, Polan said.

And at some point during that mourning process, Polan saw the periodic Washington Post feature "Faces of the Fallen."

The Post publishes the photos of as many servicemembers as possible that have died in Iraq or Afghanistan in a gallery format.

Looking at the latest Post installment, "I had a 'eureka' moment," Polan said.

She envisioned a space dedicated not to photographs, but to portraits, which she believes are ultimately more revealing.

Retired Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught, the Women's Memorial Foundation president and a friend of Polan, was an early supporter.

Vaught acted as a liaison with the Defense Department, as well as offering the memorial as the exhibit space.

Before the project got under way, the different military services mailed letters to each family whose portrait was scheduled to be part of the exhibit, giving them the opportunity not to participate if they so chose.

They were also informed that once the exhibit is done touring, each honored servicemember's family would be given the portrait.

Not a single family declined, Polan said.

If the initial display proves popular enough, and enough donations come their way, the nonprofit "Faces" board of directors hope to both sponsor more portraits, and to put the exhibit on a national tour, Polan said.

Each painting is mounted on a specially designed gray holder on a pole - a format inspired by a photograph of a graveyard in Qom, Iraq, where each person's grave is marked by a photo of the deceased, Polan said.

The intent of the portraits, however, is not to remind viewers of death, but to celebrate lives that are normally noted only in ever-growing statistics, said Dennis O'Neil, an expert in print-making who provided 200 hand-screened silhouettes for the exhibit that are "place holders" for servicemembers whose photos were not available, or whose assigned artists have not completed their assignments.

"When one artist deals with one soul, you're re-humanizing the fact that these people lost their lives," said O'Neil, who in addition to working as an artist is also a professor of art at the Corcoran.

Whether dealing in paint, wood, fabric or any other allowable medium, each "Faces" artist had "to stretch himself to find something about that person, somehow capture a piece of their humanity," O'Neil said.

Before the exhibit opens to the public, there will be a special reception and viewing for the families of the servicemembers. Polan said that 1,800 family members have indicated that they will attend, including a family traveling from India for the event, and a military widow who is coming from Australia.

For all the viewers of "Faces of the Fallen," Polan said, "what I really hope [the exhibit] ultimately has is the quality of healing."

"We as a country are going through a very divisive time," Polan said.

"But we can all agree as Americans that the troops who sacrificed their lives, deserve to be honored and remembered."

To see a slide show of many of the completed portraits, and to learn more about Faces of the Fallen, go to: http://www.facesofthefallen.org

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Bringing new guys up to speed
March 21,2005
ERIC STEINKOPFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF

They go almost unnoticed - nearly lost in the mix.

As upwards of 17,000 of Marines and sailors have deployed to Iraq from area bases, nearly 3,000 Marine and Navy reservists from across the country have simultaneously been processing through Camp Lejeune. They're bound for the same types of duties as their regular active-duty counterparts, but for them the transition is a bit more abrupt.

"The most important thing is I believe I'm doing the right thing by going over there," said Cpl. Benjamin Fischer, 23, an automotive body technician turned armored vehicle crewman from Fort Wayne, Ind. He's been married just two months.

They're not going it alone, though. Be it on the rifle range or in the gas chamber, they're getting more than a little help from the base's Reserve Support Unit.

Meeting demand

In peacetime, RSU consists of about 13 people, seven activated reservists and six regular active duty troops, who organize training when reserve units come to Camp Lejeune - typically on a monthly drill weekend or during a two-week summer training period.

"We billet them, broker their range requests, transport and hold ammunition and issue stock weapons," said RSU commander Lt. Col. Steve Emerson, 48, of Philadelphia, Pa.

"We're sort of a host unit - almost like an advance party."

But with the country at war, the RSU has swelled in size. It's now called the mobilization support battalion. Now they make arrangements for entire reserve units being activated for six to 12 months, or more.

"In contingency role, like now, (annual training) becomes secondary," Emerson said.

Their current staff numbers about 70, manned by reservists and even a couple of retirees returning to active duty. In an emergency, and to support all-out combat, their staff can grow to 300.

"The most important thing is getting reacquainted with Marine Corps life," said Cpl. Christopher Nibley, 23, an infantryman from Salt Lake City.

Nibley, who's taken a break from his psychology studies at Brigham Young University, is somewhat impatient about getting to Iraq. Still, he was surprised upon arriving at Camp Lejeune to find the base operating so smoothly.

"It's a lot more organized than I thought it would be," Nibley said.

Between January and the end of March, there have been - and will continue to be - between 900 and 1,200 reserve troops in the RSU's training program at any given time, Emerson said. Its capacity is 1,300.

A new arrival first gets information about the programs and organizations to help them and their families while they're activated. They get the lowdown on medical benefits, and any legal and religious needs that might arise - they're told about suicide prevention.

"The most important thing is my family supports me," said Sgt. Jonathan Smith, 27, a construction worker turned infantryman from Morehead, Ky.

A second battery of classes includes information on local regulations, directions to chow halls and the four gymnasiums within walking distance.

The last phase includes weapons training and classes on improvised explosive devices.

"It's the ultimate in one-stop shopping," said Mobilization Processing Center Chief Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Donovan, 37, from Tampa, Fla. "We're better than Wal-Mart."


Contact staff writer Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@freedomenc.com or 353-1171, Ext. 236.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

March 22, 2005

Kearsarge battle group,
26th MEU to deploy

Associated Press


NORFOLK, Va. — Some 6,300 sailors and Marines will depart Friday in the Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group to support the war on terrorism.
The strike group consists of the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, the guided missile cruiser Normandy, the amphibious transport ship Ponce, the guided missile destroyer Gonzalez, the guided missile frigate Kauffman, the attack submarine Scranton and the dock landing ship Ashland.

All of the ships are based at Norfolk except the Ashland, whose home port is Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach.

The ships will be deploying with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The sailors and Marines completed joint training exercises off coasts of Virginia, North Carolina and Florida earlier this year.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

3/2 Marines assume authority of Al Qaim region

Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200532151947
Story by Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel



CAMP AL QAIM, Iraq (March 9, 2005) -- Lt. Col. Christopher Woodridge, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, officially transferred authority of Camp Al Qaim and their area of operations to Lt. Col. T.S. Mundy, commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment in a ceremony held here March 9.

The battalion is here to continue stability and security operations in and around Al Qaim for roughly seven months, which was the same amount of time 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, was in the area.

"Seven months is a normal rotation for an infantry battalion. The Marine Corps has found that seven months in one area is the right length of time for an infantry battalion in this type of environment," Mundy explained.

According to Mundy, this is an important area of the country because of the heavy flow of insurgents and terrorists across the Syrian boarder.

The battalion's primary mission will be to continue assisting the Iraqi Security Forces in preventing this influx into Iraq by helping them assume responsibility for their region.

This will be accomplished assisting the ISF in conducting vehicle searches, personnel check points, route security and cordon and knocks, which is the isolation and search of an objective.

"I look forward to seeing the Marines and sailors of the battalion perform their mission to the ability that I know they have," Mundy said. "We spent a long time training to get here. I feel the battalion is well-trained and the Marines are going to be successful."

Mundy and his battalion entered this area with a positive attitude and a strong desire to accomplish their mission.

"It's good to be able to see young men step up to what we expect them to do here.

"We're happy to be here," he explained. "That may sound strange, but the Marines have worked hard to get here and they'll do good work to help this country."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Reservists steer past UAW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Eric Mayne
Special to the Marine Corps Times

DETROIT - The United Auto Workers union waved a white flag March 14 in its parking skirmish with neighboring reservists. But leathernecks with 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, are not accepting surrender.

Facing intense criticism, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger reversed his decision to ban Marine reservists from driving foreign cars or displaying pro-President Bush bumper stickers from parking at the union's Solidarity House headquarters in Detroit.

"I made the wrong call on the parking issue, and I have notified the Marine Corps that all reservists are welcome to park at Solidarity House as they have for the past 10 years," Gettelfinger said in a statement.

Wounded by what they consider an unpatriotic ambush, the Marines rejected the union's olive branch and secured an alternative parking lot.

"I talked to Ron; I let him know that I understand he has rescinded his decision," said Lt. Col. Joe Rutledge, commanding officer of the battalion's active-duty instructors. "However, I've made my decision - either you support the Marines or you don't."

The UAW has a long-standing policy prohibiting nonunion-made vehicles from the parking lots at its plants and meeting halls.

Until recently, the union made an exception for the Marines who parked at Solidarity House on weekends. The battalion's headquarters is nearby.

While both sides say the dispute has been overblown, it revealed the depths of the UAW's antipathy toward the Bush administration and its concern over the rise of foreign automakers in the U.S. market.

Gettelfinger and other top UAW International officials say Bush is blatantly anti-labor and has opposed measures that could have benefited working men and women.

UAW leaders backed Democratic challenger John Kerry and his running mate John Edwards in last year's election.

The UAW's March 14 reversal followed a barrage of criticism from both union members and nonunion members. The dispute became instant fodder for such Web sites as The Drudge Report and various radio programs.

The Detroit News, after reporting the story, received hundreds of e-mails starting March 13 about the controversy, the majority criticizing the UAW's decision.

"I have never belonged to the unions, but I've always bought [domestic] brand cars," said Jenny Pulcerm, 74, of Harrison Township. "Right now, I'm driving a Chrysler. But the next car will definitely not be union-made."

Outside the Marine reservists' headquarters, it wasn't hard to find signs of hard feelings.

A Chevrolet pickup truck marked as a Toyota parked in front of a phalanx of military Humvees sported three bumper stickers. One touted "Semper Fi," the second was a Bush/Cheney campaign sticker and the third an anti-UAW sign.

The UAW decision to ban Marines struck a nerve with many who say U.S. armed forces deserve more respect, especially during a time of war.

And certainly, some said, Marines should be able to support their commander in chief without facing repercussions.

"The Marines who fought at Iwo Jima - including yours truly - and those who are now in Iraq, took an oath to defend this country and its citizens," said Russ Paquette, an 87-year-old lawyer from St. Clair Shores and former commanding officer of 1/24. "There is nothing in the oath which indicates that we Marines will only fight for citizens who drive certain automobiles, or who voted in the last election for a certain president."

Gettelfinger, himself a former Marine reservist, said his initial decision should not be viewed as a lack of support for the military.

"That certainly was not my intention. ... I fully appreciate the sacrifices and contributions made by America's reservists, National Guard members and active-duty military personnel and their families," his statement said.

Gettelfinger also acknowledged that the decision reflected poorly on the UAW, which historically has supported the U.S. military.

"The controversy over this decision has overshadowed the many good things the UAW and our members are doing to support and express our appreciation to America's servicemen and women and veterans," he said.

Some supported Gettelfinger's call.

"It took a lot of guts," said Phil Davis, a 58-year-old real-estate agent in Tampa, Fla. "It was based on principle."

Dominic Roti, a 64-year-old Farmington retiree who worked 37 years for Chrysler, credits the UAW with setting the benchmark for America's standard of living.

"They're the ones who are putting bread on the table," Roti said. "We're accustomed to [living] a certain way. You have a car to go from work, to home, to the stores - not like in a lot of European countries. The UAW made it that way for us. We're thankful to them."

But many of those who weighed in said the episode changed their opinion of the UAW. Bill Reiber of Vista, Calif., whose son is serving in Iraq, is trading in his Chevrolet S-10 pickup for a vehicle made by a foreign automaker.

"I'm looking at the Toyota Tacoma," he said. "What [the UAW] did, it just wasn't right. These are Marines, and they have a right, like anybody else in America, to express their First Amendment rights."

Rutledge said he's anxious to get past the dispute and get back to business. Owners of a nearby apartment complex agreed to allow reservists to park on their premises.

"I know people are incensed by this thing," Rutledge said, "but in the big scheme of things, what I do is train Marines, and I'm preparing these guys to go overseas."

Eric Mayne is a staff writer for The Detroit News.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Parents share memories of fallen Lexington Marine

(Lexington) March 22, 2005 - For the first time, parents of a fallen marine are telling their son's story.

Lance Corporal Joshua Torrence died when insurgents attacked his assault vehicle just over a week ago. Another day or two, and Torrence would have been preparing to leave Iraq, returning to the Lexington County community of Wrenwood where the flags outside his house now fly at half staff.

His parents, Vernon and Regina Torrence, recall the shock of seeing a Marine officer at their door last week. Vernon's reaction was instant, "Your heart takes a leap when you see that. Because you know instantly, before the words are even spoken. You know."

Josh joined the Marines in 2003, fulfilling a goal he'd set while still a football player at White Knoll High School, but his love for military life dated back at least to his pre-teens, when he learned to play the fife so he could join his father as a Civil War re-enactor.

His parents say Josh eventually planned to go into law enforcement, and thought the Marines would be a good way to get started, even if that meant going to Iraq.

Vernon warned Josh of the dangers, "I basically told him that you know that you're not going to be sitting off on the sidelines somewhere. I said you're going to be in the thick of it. And he said, 'Yes, I know.' But he also said the Marines were the ones that expected the most of you and that they had the highest standards. And he wanted to be a part of that."

Regina Torrence, his mother, says, "He was always a dreamer. He believed that if you could dream it, you could achieve it."

Torrence was on patrol in Iraq's al Anbar province. He was riding in an amphibious vehicle known as a "Trac" when it was hit by a roadside bomb. Torrence was 20 years old.

Regina was hesitant when Josh told her his decision, "I didn't want him to go. And then after I thought about it, I knew that was what he wanted to do with his life, was to be able to help people."

Vernon says he still supports his son, "I do know that in his heart he knew that he was there for a specific reason. We may not always know what the reasons are, but I know that he was comfortable and confident in what he was doing."

Lance Corporal Josh Torrence will be laid to rest Thursday at 2:00pm at Saxe Gotha Church in Lexington.

Reported by Jack Kuenzie

Ellie

[thedrifter]

VMFA-142 Gators put steel on target for 3/25
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20053218254
Story by Cpl. Rocco DeFilippis



AL ASAD, Iraq (March 21, 2005) -- Aircraft from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 142, a reserve unit, responded to a call for air support from 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, a reserve infantry battalion, who was conducting security patrols in the Al Anbar province on March 18.

Two of the squadron's F/A-18A+ Hornets responded to the call from a 3/25 forward air controller, who spoke with the pilots to coordinate the air strike, after the Marines were engaged by enemy fire.

Using an infrared laser, the Hornets were guided to the target by the forward air controller on the ground, only 30 minutes after receiving the first call for support, the pilots had delivered their ordnance.

"It was hard to see at night, but the systems on our aircraft, and competence of the controller on the ground allowed us to destroy the target swiftly," said one of the pilots who asked not to be named.

On that night, 3/25 encountered two men armed with automatic rifles who appeared to be digging a hole for an improvised explosive device. The Marines engaged the insurgents, who fled to an isolated building. After continued small-arms engagement, the VMFA-142 aircraft arrived and eliminated the enemy threat with two 500lbs, laser guided bombs.

Although neither unit knew it at the time, both the Marines on the ground and in the air are from reserve units, and their actions are a testament to the readiness and preparation of the Marine Corps reserves.

"We are equally able to function with active duty and reserve forces," said Lt. Col. Tracey A. Farris, VMFA-142 executive officer and native of Nashville, Tenn. "We are all cut from the same template, so there are no obstacles or barriers that prevent us from completing the mission."

While the Marines of 3/25, headquartered in Brook Park, Ohio, continue to patrol the towns and cities of Iraq, VMFA-142, based out of Marrietta, Ga., will continue to provide precision strikes to support them from the air.

"Our pilots and maintenance Marines are extremely well prepared," Farris said. "They constantly work to stay on top of the latest technology, tactics and procedures so we can provide the support the Marines on the ground want and expect."

http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200532184231/$file/anger47low.jpg

A pillar of smoke and debris erupts from the ground as seen through the camera of one of VMFA-142's F/A-18A+ Hornets. The Hornets responded to a call from 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment who had engaged insurgents hunkered down in an isolated building on March 18. Photo by: Official Marine Corps Photo

Ellie

[thedrifter]

More than 30 years in the Corps not enough for one Marine
Submitted by: MCB Quantico
Story Identification #: 200531695351
Story by Lance Cpl. Lance Cpl. Sha'ahn Williams



MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (March 16, 2005) -- Once a Marine, always a Marine - a well-worn phrase heard throughout the Corps that is easily taken for granted. For some, it's just something Marines say, and many never give it more than a passing thought.

But one Marine epitomizes this phrase.

A self-proclaimed baby "born in green," retired Sgt. Maj. Lonnie Martin, now director of Youth Sports at Marine Corps Community Services, has spent his entire life around Marines.
He has so much love for the Marine Corps and its families that after 30 years active duty he refuses to leave the military community.

"My love for the Marine Corps first began with the pride I learned as a child seeing what Marines do," said Martin. "I was surrounded by doers, like my father, who fought in three wars."

Listening to the stories of his father, 1st Sgt. William F. Martin, and his father's friends about their adventures as Marines made young Martin eager to grow up and enlist in the Marine Corps, which he did Aug. 30, 1970.

"When I came in, I learned it was all I thought it would be," he said. "In the 30 years I was on active duty traveling to foreign countries, I realized that the term 'Marine' meant something to most people.

"To many it meant fear, but to most it meant respect. That left an impression on me."

Martin enjoyed a successful career, which included two tours on the drill field.

After reaching the rank of sergeant major, Martin became chief instructor at Marine Security Guard school.

He traveled around the world as a sergeant major, from Yuma, Ariz. to Iwakuni, Japan, finally settling into his last billet here.

Martin retired here in May 2000 as the base sergeant major, a position he thoroughly enjoyed because of his ability to help Marines' quality of life.

He continues to help Marines as the director of youth sports, but feels his mission has changed somewhat due to the war on terrorism.

"One thing I've found here is that it's no longer just a quality of life issue - it's a readiness issue," said Martin.

With nearly 40 percent of the parents whose children play for the league deployed, the services we provide take stress off the parent left here, he explained. "Taking stress off the family at home aids the home front."

Martin feels youth sports helps give parents peace of mind because their children are in a safe environment that is comfortable.

Helping others and giving back to the community that helped nurture him were the largest factors that motivated Martin to take the youth sports position after retiring.

"I grew up in the youth sports program and I know how valuable the lessons learned here are to a child," he said. "What better tool teaches children about life than sports?"

Those life lessons are manners, following rules, how to win and lose, the chain of command system, and mostly it teaches the children about themselves.

"The vast majority of the coaches are active duty military, so they make good mentors," Martin said.

The Marine Corps and its values touch every facet of Martin's life, and youth sports is the main beneficiary.

"Martin's leadership has changed the personality of the program," said Christian D'Orazio, head of the Semper Fit Branch and close friend of Martin. "Coming from his 30 years in the Corps, Martin is a consummate, flexible leader who has made positive changes to youth sports."

One of the many changes Martin made was the Best Buddies program.

Because the program was instituted while he was the base sergeant major, Martin gets to ensure Best Buddies is carried out properly.

This program is patterned after the National Best Buddies program. The goal is to provide to all children, no matter what their special needs, an opportunity to "buddy-up" with other military children for social, recreational, developmental, and athletic activities and events.
"This pairing allows the children to see the world out of each other's eyes," D'Orazio said.
Another change made by Martin was the end of season awards ceremony.

"These official ceremonies make the children feel special because we have the band and the chaplain there," said D'Orazio.

Under Martin's watchful eye, the programs have been expanded, the staff has grown, and more training has been implemented to make the environment more professional.

With the growth of youth sports, Larson Gym has had a resurrection of sorts, said D'Orazio. "The gym probably would have gone under if Martin hadn't started scheduling so many events and ceremonies here."

Martin is a true Marine for his ability to multitask, organize and get the job done, all while maintaining a smile on his face. He is a people person with a big personality in a small body, chuckled D'Orazio.

His priority is improving the quality of life to make a difference in the lives of the families on Marine Corps Base Quantico.

"I do things that need to be done," Martin said. "And as long as I'm making a difference here, I'll stay."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Tarawa Division enters Sunni Triangle
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200532143412
Story by Sgt. Stephen D'Alessio



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Ar Ramadi, Iraq (March 17, 2005) -- Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general for 1st Marine Division, will transfer responsibility of the Al Anbar province this month to Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, commanding general for 2nd Marine Division.

The shift of control is a continuation of the stability and security operations already being conducted by Marine Corps units since March 2004. Although the 2nd Marine 'Tarawa' Division, from Camp Lejeune, N.C., is officially taking over operational responsibility for the infamously treacherous region, units from the division have already been in place for some time.

"Understand that this (relief in place) began months ago; we're not new here," said Col. Bob Chase, 2nd Marine Division operations officer. "Many current 'ops' were planned in conjunction between the 1st Marine Division and ourselves over the course of a few months. One of the most recent operations, River Blitz, was a joint 1st and 2nd Marine Division operation. But certainly the final decisions rested with the commander on the ground."

The Tarawa Division will continue most of the techniques, tactics and procedures the 1st Marine Division established according to Chase. The 2nd Marine Division will continue to refine and adopt new methods of thwarting insurgent activity.

"A few things we bring to the fight are a fresh set of eyes and a shift of focus as we partner more with the (Iraqi Security Forces)," said Chase. "There's a pride that certainly comes with the changeover as the Marines of our division move into this area of operations, and continue to build on the successes of 1st Division."

With the recent Iraqi elections, the local military has stepped into a larger role according to Chase. The Tarawa Division is taking action to help strengthen the bond between the Marines and the Iraqi Security Forces. In turn, it is the division's goal to share more of the responsibility for security and stabilization in the region with the ISF.

"One of our main focuses here is training with the ISF," said Chase. "We'll see some fights out here, but the good news is we won't do it alone."

As the 2nd Marine Division fully integrates as a task-organized unit, the Marines are bringing their hard-earned experience to the fight in the Global War on Terrorism.

Chase concluded by saying, "We have some new ideas, and we're well rested. That will help us finish what the 1st Marine Division did well. We owe that to the Marines to not let their work go to the wayside."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sights set on Cobra Gold ‘05
Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler
Story Identification #: 2005320202811
Story by Cpl. Trevor M. Carlee



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan (March 18, 2005) -- Marines with A Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, currently assigned to 3rd Bn., 12th Marines, align the coordinates on their howitzer aboard here March 15 during the battery’s rehearsal of standard operating procedure for providing indirect artillery support for infantry units.

Sixty-six Marines with the Hawaii-based battery participated in the three-day exercise that helped prepare them for their future training at the central training area, which will in turn prepare them for their deployment to Cobra Gold '05.


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2005320203142/$file/050312-M-0004C-014low.jpg

Marines with Battery A, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, currently assigned to 3rd Bn., 12th Marines, align the coordinates on their howitzer aboard here March 15 during the battery’s rehearsal of standard operating procedure for providing indirect artillery support for infantry units. Sixty-six Marines with the Hawaii-based battery participated in the three-day exercise that helped prepare them for their future training at the central training area, which will in turn prepare them for their deployment to Cobra Gold '05. See next week’s issue of the Okinawa Marine for full story. Photo by: Cpl. Trevor M. Carlee

Ellie

[thedrifter]

When the going gets tough, the tough get online
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200532113236
Story by Sgt. Stephen D'Alessio



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Ar Ramadi, Iraq (March 21, 2005) -- The camp's computer data section is the nucleus of all vital information dispersal on the camp, and Sgt. Meade is the Marine who keeps it moving.

Sammie R. Meade, a 21-year-old Manchester, N.H., native and tactical data network specialist with Headquarters Battalion, 2d Marine Division, is the life force behind the computer network in the combat operations center. Otherwise, he likes to be known as a "Data Dink."

The Data Dinks, affectionately proclaimed as the computer gurus who maintain the network, are somewhat of an enigma around the camp. But holding the key to his mysterious computer knowledge is what Meade likes best.

The 2001 Trinity High School graduate began his love for computers there, when he won a computer arts contest for desktop publishing work. Now, his passion has become more of a trade than an art as he uses his talent to make the most efficient computer network possible for his unit's fight in the Global War on Terrorism.

Meade builds computers and networks them into the division's combat operations center, the hub of Marine operations in the Al Anbar Province. His work has brought him here, to the infamous Sunni Triangle, to support the Corps in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"We've been here for nearly three solid weeks and I'm still working out the kinks in the system," said Meade. "I've been working fourteen-hour days, one hundred hours a week and we still aren't where we need to be yet."

This is Meade's first deployment and he is taking it in stride. It's not too far from what his last goal was -- to become a computer programmer. Meade had a full ride scholarship for a graphic arts degree. But when Notre Dame College went bankrupt and closed, according to Meade, there were only two things to do - find another college or see what the Corps had to offer.

So far, his success has been abundant.

"It was too late to apply for another scholarship and college, so here I am," Meade said in a humorous tone. "I've experienced a lot of very valuable lessons so far, and being a Marine with this type of job keeps me out of the office."

Meade and his fellow Marines work long hours to accomplish their vital mission. But with the long months ahead, they find time to take a break.

"This kind of thing burns me out fast, so it's the little things I look forward to," said Meade. "A couple of the guys and I get together at the mess hall at midnight for about one hour. We do the same at lunch and that's our time to steam off."

If not for Marines like Meade, the combat operations center would look like something out of a WWII movie, according to Meade, who prides himself on keeping things up and running smoothly.

"Without the network, we'd all be communicating by radio and courier," Meade said. "There would be a lot of privates running around here with messages. I don't think people would go for that these days."

Meade is a wanted man on the camp. The work never seems to be done. On any given day, he fulfills about twenty requests for fixing network problems. According to Meade, that's average. But he can't convince the Marines of that.

"Somehow people seem to think we're a step above the rest, but that's because we fix their computers," said Meade. "We get a lot of praise for the job because there is such a high standard.

"No matter what, I intend to meet those expectations."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Ambushed GIs Kill 26 Militants
Associated Press
March 22, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers, ambushed by dozens of Iraqi militants near the infamous "Triangle of Death," responded by killing 26 guerrillas in the largest single insurgent death toll since last fall's battle for Fallujah, the U.S. military said Monday.

The high number of deaths in Sunday's daylight battle south of Baghdad was attributed to the large number of attackers, unusual in a country where most clashes are carried out by small bands of gunmen or suicide bombers.

"I was surprised at the numbers," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, a squad leader for the 617th Military Police Company of Richmond, Ky., and a native of Henryville, Ind., involved in the firefight. "Usually we can usually expect seven to 10."

As the U.S. military reported that and other successes against the insurgency, attackers struck several times Monday, killing seven civilians and three Iraqi soldiers. A roadside bomb in Aziziyah, 35 miles southeast of Baghdad, killed four women and three children, police said.

Reporting on Sunday's big firefight, the U.S. military said MPs and artillery units from the Kentucky National Guard were traveling along a road 20 miles southeast of Baghdad around noon when 40 to 50 militants emerged from a grove of trees and a roadside canal firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.




The soldiers returned fire, killing or wounding all the insurgents in a field and driving away those attacking from the canal. Seven Americans were reported wounded, but no details were given on their conditions. Commanders said seven wounded insurgents and one unwounded attacker were captured.

The guerrilla death toll - 26 - was the highest in a single clash in Iraq since U.S. forces took control of the formerly insurgent-held city of Fallujah west of the capital.

In late December, an attack on a U.S. military outpost in Mosul resulted in the deaths of 25 insurgents and one U.S. soldier.

Military officials said the road where Sunday's attack occurred has seen a surge in violence against coalition forces, including an ambush Friday in nearly the same spot that killed a foreign driver. They blame a nearby village believed to be an insurgent hideout.

After the battle, U.S. troops recovered six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 16 rockets, 13 machine guns, 22 assault rifles, more than 2,900 bullets and 40 hand grenades.

It was one of several blows to the insurgency that were reported Monday.

A pre-dawn raid Monday by U.S. and Iraqi forces in Kirkuk captured 13 people believed tied to a fatal attack on a local police officer and the bombing of his funeral procession that killed three more officers. Thirty other suspects were detained Friday in Karbala.

U.S. officials also said two suspects were arrested in the suicide bombing Sunday that killed the anti-corruption director in the northern city of Mosul, Walid Kashmoula.

In addition, they said 10 men captured by Iraqi soldiers last week had confessed to staging a March 9 suicide bombing in Baghdad using a garbage truck near the Agricultural Ministry and a hotel favored by Westerners. At least four people, including the attackers and a guard, were killed in that attack.

Officials also said two insurgents were killed and two wounded in two separate incidents when they were found digging roadside holes for homemade bombs in Salaheddin province north of Baghdad.

In violence Monday:

-A U.S. Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was killed in Anbar province in western Iraq, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

-An Iraqi solider died and four were wounded when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in western Baghdad. Also in the capital, gunmen in two speeding cars fired at an Iraq army foot patrol, killing one soldier and wounding one.

-Another Iraqi soldier was killed in Sherqat, 160 miles north of Baghdad, when a mortar shell struck his army camp.

-The head of the police force in Baghdad's Kazimiyah neighborhood, Col. Mou'yad Farhan, escaped unhurt when gunmen shot at his car but his driver suffered serious injuries.

-In Samarra, a pickup truck driven by a suicide bomber exploded prematurely near a hospital, wounding about a dozen civilians and damaging homes.

On the diplomatic front, Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday ordered his top envoy in Iraq to return to his post, just one day after recalling him over Iraqi claims that Jordan was allowing insurgents to slip across the border, Jordan's official Petra news agency said. Iraq also withdrew its envoy from Jordan in the tit-for-tat withdrawals by the two neighbors.

Political negotiations to form a coalition government remained snagged in a disagreement between Shiite Arabs and Kurds.

The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite clergy, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was expected to meet Wednesday with Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader likely to become Iraq's next president.

The 140 seats won by the Shiite alliance in the Jan. 30 elections is the biggest bloc of seats in the new National Assembly, but it needs the support of the Kurds' 75 deputies to have enough votes to form a government.

The Kurds want the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk to be returned to the autonomous Kurd region as soon as the government convenes, but an official from al-Sistani's office said he wants the issue handled in the constitution to be drafted by the National Assembly.

Former dictator Saddam Hussein drove Kurds from their homes in Kirkuk and the surrounding region and replaced them with Iraqi Arabs.

A senior member of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, Ahmad Chalabi, told Al-Arabiya television that the Kurds also wanted the powerful ministry of oil position in the new Cabinet.

Shiites make up about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, while Sunni Arabs account for about 20 percent. Kurds, who are Sunni Muslims but mostly secular, are 15 percent to 20 percent.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Survivor's "Psycho" Marine Discharged

by Angel Cohn
TV Guide Online

Membership in Survivor: Palau's winning tribe has its benefits. Not only did Koror land themselves a swanky hut, courtesy of Home Depot, but their undefeated streak also allowed them to avoid tribal council. That false sense of security ended with last week's twist, in which host Jeff Probst made both tribes send one player home. Unsurprisingly, the Koror crew snuffed the torch of their weakest link, 57-year-old Willard Smith. Though he didn't put up much of a fight on the island, the second TVGuide.com steps in the door, this smooth-talking lawyer is off and running. Apparently, he's peeved about TV Guide calling him "affluent," among other grievances....

Willard Smith: I said that I didn't need the $1 million, and they assumed that meant I was wealthy. If you don't have a high-consumption lifestyle, you don't need that much money. It doesn't mean you are wealthy.

TVGuide.com: OK. So were you surprised to be voted off?

Willard: I knew I was getting voted off, there was no shock.

TVG: You are a lawyer. Why didn't you fight more?

Willard: Let's take that in three parts. One, being a lawyer doesn't mean you fight. Two, contrary to what people would like to think - or what the producers ram down your throat - some things can't be changed. Three, if some things can't be changed, I'm not going out of my way to give somebody an emotional display.

TVG: OK, so maybe you couldn't have fought for yourself, but you could have defended your position at least.

Willard: I can't get healthy [doing] that.

TVG: Were you ready to go home?

Willard: I was ready to stay for the whole time. Pain doesn't bother me, but being unable to perform physically is very frustrating. If I could have gotten to the merge, which I might have if they hadn't had that particular way of eliminating people, I'd still be there.

TVG: Your tribe thought you'd be a threat when it came to puzzle challenges. Were they right to worry?

Willard: Oh, yeah. They were right to be worried about that. I am smarter than any three of those suckers put together. I just broke down physically.

TVG: Why do you think your Koror tribe was more dominant?

Willard: One of the things that happened in the selection process was that young, pretty people picked young, pretty people. We got some of the better athletes - Tom, Ian, Gregg, Caryn and, in certain ways, Coby, who should not be underestimated.

TVG: It seemed like Katie might've been the first Koror to go.

Willard: Her strategy is to suck up to power. I don't know how successful it is going to be. It could go all the way, it could die right out. I am not a schmoozer. It is a social game, I know, but I didn't really expect to be there playing it.

TVG: Did your background in the Army and the Marines prepare you at all?

Willard: That had nothing to do with this. You have to understand, when you are in the military, you have a team or unit that is designed to take care of each other and work together to accomplish a common mission. You are not backstabbing each other. This is more like junior high school - and I was s----y in junior high school.

TVG: Why did you want to go on Survivor anyway?

Willard: I didn't. I had a bet with my secretary and my wife that I could figure out the casting process and get on the show, and I did. I created a character. I cut my body fat by two thirds and cut my cholesterol in half, had my ears pierced, grew a beard and adopted a persona throughout the interview process as a borderline psychotic who was probably going to explode in Episode 1. That's how I got selected. I didn't decide I was actually going until a week before. My wife said, "You won the bet. You might as well actually go."

TVG: Seriously?

Willard: It was easy. I deal with psychos for a living. I do custody disputes. They give you personality tests and I use those things every damned day.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine's sign points directly to Whitey's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Bill Wundram
Quad City Times

EXACTLY 6,852 miles from home, in a parched place like Iraq, a thick Whitey's chocolate malt would go down pretty good right about now.

That must be why Cpl. Joshua VandeWiele of Colona, Ill., nailed a sentimental sign about Whitey's and the Quad-Cities on a post at the Iraq Marine Air Wing base where he's stationed. It must make him feel good, easing any pangs of homesickness to see that sign.

"He loved Whitey's," says his mom, Jeannie VandeWiele of Colona. "When he is home on leave, one of the first stops has been Whitey's. His favorite was chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and he can never get his fill of Whitey's malts and milk shakes."

Josh is on his third tour of duty "over there" with the Marines. When fellow Marines began hammering directions and details of their homes or favorite haunts to a post - places like Tupelo, Miss., and a speedway - Josh couldn't resist getting into the act. He did some research to get replicas of the logos, handpainted on the signboard, which says it is 6,852 miles to get a Whitey's.

He began the board with the words "Quad-Cities, Ill. and Ia. home of …

This is followed by the John Deere logo, which is important because his dad, Jerry, is retired from Deere. Next is the logo of Whitey's, the red-on-white swirl with upswing name of the Quad-Cities' favorite ice cream. Alongside the Whitey's logo is a drawing of the Centennial Bridge.

"Boy, is it nice to be remembered," says Jon Tunberg of Whitey's. "We'd like to pack a bunch of Whitey's in dry ice and send it over to Josh, but food shipments like that are banned."

Whitey's has sent big batches of mini-malts to troops departing from Fort Campbell, Ky., and regularly ships dry ice-packed malts to service people who are stateside, but never overseas.

His mom laughs that before leaving on his last tour of duty, Josh told her that he'd like to take Whitey's along. The closest thing to the Quad-Cities that could go with him was a John Deere cap and T-shirt.

Josh's parents live near Billy Wolf Road in Colona - which is not far from Geneseo to you city-fied folks who never heard of that landmark, Billy Wolf Road.

Josh enlisted in the Marines while a high school student in Geneseo, then reported for duty after graduation. After boot camp and training, he married his high school sweetheart, Elisabeth Ross, who now lives in Miramar, Calif., Josh's home base.

In his years as a Marine, Josh has seen a hunk of overseas duty. He was in Kuwait for six months in 2003, and seven months in Iraq in 2004. He left Jan. 19 of this year for another hitch in Iraq, where he is a computer network specialist.

Tunberg wishes that he could somehow get malts to Josh. After all, Whitey's malts have made it to England and Japan.

"Someone wanted to send our malts to Japan. We knew that would never work, but they said if we could get them to San Francisco, they'd get them the rest of the way to Japan. We got them to San Francisco, and we don't know what happened after that."

Whitey's once made up a special batch of peppermint ice cream for a White House reunion of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Wellesley College class. Peppermint ice cream was always the Sunday desert at Welleslley, and White House chefs couldn't find any in Washington. Whitey's made up many gallons and shipped it in dry ice. It arrived, without a drip.

"The White House order was great, but it's a great feeling, too, to know that when servicemen like Josh think of home and the Quad-Cities, they think of Whitey's," Tunberg says.

He tells how other servicemen have had the same feeling.

"We know. First, they can't wait to see their wives, and then they can't wait to get a Whitey's."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Son faced raw reality of war
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By William Cole
Honolulu Advertiser Military Writer

Shipped off to Okinawa for the usual seven-month rotation, Hawai'i Marine Jerry J. "JJ" Aguirre thought that's where he'd stay while other Marines fought in two wars.

"He said, 'Dad, I'll bet you $500 we aren't going anywhere,' " recalled his father, Andy.

Lance Cpl. Aguirre would lose the bet, and four Marine buddies in Iraq.

The life-changing journey and his deployment along with 900 Hawai'i Marines, now winding down, is told through e-mail and letters from the younger Aguirre to his father.

A country music fan and baseball lover who hopes to land a job as a baseball coach, JJ Aguirre traces the arc of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment's Iraq duty through pre-war jitters in Kuwait, the loss of friends, the fighting in Fallujah, a close call with a bullet and weariness with it all.

The 23-year-old Marine is on the USS Essex, one of three ships heading to Okinawa. From there, the Marines will return to Hawai'i next month.

His father, Andy Aguirre, 51, is a retired enlisted man who was with the 82nd Airborne Division and saw combat in Grenada. He describes the worry over a son taking his turn in a war zone.

"There's no comparison being in a combat zone to having a son or daughter in a combat zone," the Fayetteville, N.C., man said. "It's excruciating - especially when it comes on TV: 'Marines killed.' "

Aguirre's personal account traces the experiences of the 1/3 Marines from Kane'ohe Bay, including house-to-house battles with insurgents in Fallujah in November. Eight 1/3 Marines were killed in a suicide car bomb attack on Oct. 30; 26 Hawai'i Marines and a corpsman died in the crash of a helicopter in a sandstorm on Jan. 26; and 11 other Marines died in Iraq - most of them in Fallujah.

A total of 159 Purple Hearts have been approved for the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. JJ Aguirre has one of them.

Here are excerpts from his e-mails to his father:

14 Oct. 04

Ready to get out of Kuwait, Dad. Waiting on aircraft, and everyone is getting on each other's nerves. We've been here since Sept. 11 now. No matter what happens, I'm pretty satisfied with my life.

The infantry battalion, one of three at Kane'ohe Bay, headed to Okinawa in July. As an Asia-Pacific contingency force for hot spots like the Korean Peninsula, the 3rd Marine Regiment had a reputation for not deploying to a combat zone. But that changed with the Marines stretched thin by two wars.

17 Oct. 04

Finally here (in Iraq) and there was an incoming rocket today. Heard that some (headquarters and service company) Marines were wounded. Platoon flew on a CH-46. A few rounds every day they say, but they are bad shots.

30 Oct. 04

Check the (Defense Department) news, Dad. I can't talk but it's a sad day in 1/3 and Bravo (Company). We lost some of our brothers today. Doc (Joel Ivy Jr., a Navy corpsman) did an awesome job doing the nine line medevacs, and some of the junior Marines did an extraordinary job. 3rd platoon was hit by a suicide car bomber. (Lance Cpl. Alberto) Felix told us all about it, and we raced down to Bravo surgical. We cussed and we cried. Dad, Foxy is gone.

Lance Cpl. Travis Fox, 25, who had gone through boot camp and infantry school at Camp Geiger with Aguirre, was one of eight 1/3 Marines killed when an explosives-laden Chevy Suburban crashed into a Marine Corps troop truck on Oct. 30 near Fallujah. Ten Marines were wounded.

Fox, from Cowpens, S.C., had visited the Aguirres while on liberty. JJ's mother, who is Korean, taught him how to eat with chopsticks. His father had attended Fox's wedding on June 5, just before the deployment.

Aguirre wrote to his father the day before the Battle of Fallujah began on Nov. 8. At least 71 U.S. troops died and 450 were wounded over the next several weeks re-taking the rebel-held city.

7 Nov. 04

Rehearsals and final checks and a two-star general talked to us today. (Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski) said he needed some 3rd Marines, and 25 to 30 years from now when our grandkids are sitting on our laps and they ask what you did, Grandpa, you can say, 'I was in Fallujah, not shoveling s*** in Hawaii.' That was pretty motivating.

Veterans Day is Nov. 11th and it will have a new meaning for all of us in 1/3. Sgt. Maj. (Carlton) Kent talked about Hue City (in Vietnam) and the Marines that came before us. I am not too worried; just keep low and keep moving. I know God will be with us.

Five days later, two more of Aguirre's buddies - Lance Cpl. David M. Branning, 21, of Baltimore; and Lance Cpl. Brian A. Medina, 20, of Woodbridge, Va. - would die. Aguirre and Branning were roommates on a deployment to Okinawa.

14 Nov. 04

Hey, Dad, you probably already know: We lost two guys in the platoon, and they were in my squad. Branning and Medina died from machine gun fire and just lost too much blood. It happened ... on the 12th. We were clearing buildings, and we found caches of (weapons). Also heroin and other drugs. I guess they were all hopped up because you had to shoot at least four or five rounds to drop them.

It happened so fast: (Cpl. Alexis) Ayala's team went first; Branning and Medina kicked the gate open and maybe 3 to 5 feet inside, machine gun fire. Everybody gets cover, and we suppress the building; we are talking to Branning and Medina to hang in there.

The gun position was well concealed and had great fields of fire. We fired 40mm (high explosive rounds) and had a (Light Armored Vehicle) come up and fire its guns. Cpl. (Andrew) Etheridge took a shot in the right leg; Doc (Robert C.) Trottman did a fabulous job on him; then we got Branning out of there.

DC (Cpl. Michael DanielCollins) and Ayala grabbed him. There was a trail of blood; he died seconds later. He took a shot in the neck, and it exited out of his head. Then I got hit on the left side of my back as I was laying suppressive fire with the rest of the guys.

It was a bad graze; I got lucky. Doc threw a dressing on and they put Medina on the (Light Armored Vehicle) with the rest of us, but he died five minutes later en route to the battalion aid station.

Both Branning and Medina were awesome guys, and they brought a lot to the squad and platoon. They were well-liked and good Marines. It was great seeing the rest of the platoon back, the hugs and handshakes. It is a brotherhood.

We're taking the deaths well, but we understand we have a job to do. We'll have our first beer for those guys and cry our hearts out.

15 Nov. 04

I only spent about a day and a half in Bravo surgical. I was lucky; it is a grazing wound but it feels like I was branded. Hurts like hell. They cut my cammies off me and no idea where my Kevlar (helmet), flak (vest) and weapon are now. Buddies took pics of my wound.

17 Nov. 04

It was really emotional talking to Brian (Medina's) dad. He said we are his sons now.

Fallujah would claim the life of another friend on Nov. 29. Lance Cpl. Blake Magaoay, 20, a 2002 Pearl City High graduate, was killed as so many others had been: in a burst of gunfire entering a Fallujah home. He was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., but got to know the Hawai'i-based Marines. JJ Aguirre has Magaoay's father Tony's phone number and plans to meet with him back in Hawai'i.

27 Dec. 04

(Lt. Col. Michael Ramos, the battalion commander) awarded Purple Hearts to B Company Marines today; it is a honor but not something I ever want to do again. Alex Ayala and (Staff Sgt. Jason) Benedict from 3rd Platoon received one also. Plenty of pics. I will mail Purple Heart home.

The crash of the CH-53E occurred a month later. JJ told his father it was sad the Marines survived Fallujah, but died in the crash. But by then he was just tired of memorial services.

28 Jan. 05

Just