thedrifter
11-15-05, 12:25 PM
November 14, 2005
News Briefs
One sexy leatherneck
Pvt. Jake Lybrook doesn’t rate a ribbon or medal for his newest award. But it’s improved his chances of finding a date.
Lybrook, a 21-year-old Marine, is one of America’s 50 sexiest bachelors, according to Cosmopolitan magazine.
His mother, Robin Edinger, nominated Lybrook for the contest. “He is a good-looking kid, but I don’t view him as sexy or hot,” she said. “He’s a cutie-pie to me.”
Lybrook had nothing to do with it. He was in training with his unit — Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines — when his mother learned that he had been chosen.
Winners of the annual contest are usually treated to a round of parties and media appearances, but Lybrook was busy with training and, in August, deployed to Iraq.
Before he left, he found time to pose for a photographer. Photos in the magazine and on its Web site are accompanied by tidbits about the bachelors. Lybrook’s includes a quote on why he joined the Corps.
Cosmopolitan provides an e-mail link to reach the bachelors. That’s presented a bit of a problem for Lybrook, whose unit is fighting insurgents in western Iraq.
Edinger said that her son has received 300 e-mails from women. “He tells me, ‘I don’t want to be mean, but we’re really busy over here.’”
She offered to help him respond. “He said, ‘No way, because some of them are sending pictures.’”
Running to honor the fallen
Marines from 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, ran in the Marine Corps Marathon this year in honor of their fallen comrades.
The reservists made the decision while they were still in Fallujah, Iraq, after their platoon suffered two casualties, said Capt. David Herron, the platoon’s commander.
The platoon returned home with three injured Marines, two of whom were amputees. Both the amputees ran the first and last mile of the marathon on prosthetic legs.
“We stayed offensive and aggressive to the enemy during the whole deployment,” Herron said. “This is our last mission to honor those who will never be able to run a marathon.”
The Marines ran the Oct. 30 marathon wearing red shirts that read, “Texas Recon” on the front and “in memory of Jeremiah Kinchen and Steven Gill” on the back.
San Clemente guard duty
San Clemente, Calif., now has a Marine permanently standing post.
According to a press release from the Heritage of San Clemente Foundation, city officials unveiled a Marine Monument at Park Semper Fi on Nov. 12.
Park Semper Fi is on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The monument consists of an 11-foot bronze statue of a Marine in dress blues saluting a flag and looking out over the ocean.
Welcome back, hat
Marines who served a tour on the drill field as far back as the 1960s visited Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Oct. 20-22 for the first West Coast Drill Instructor Reunion, according to a Corps news release.
As many as 112 retired drill instructors and more than 150 active-duty DIs shared drill duty stories, the release said.
“We wanted to show our appreciation for all drill instructors — past, present and future — and to allow an opportunity to renew old friendships and make new friends,” said Sgt. Maj. Frank E. Pulley, depot and Western Recruiting Region sergeant major.
Events included a graduation review and memorial service in honor of fallen DIs and corpsmen.
Staff Sgt. Darrick Lowery, a senior drill instructor from the depot’s 2nd Battalion, said a retired drill instructor noticed that a DI took off his cover while his recruits were in a classroom.
“They didn’t do that back then. He said they didn’t want the recruits to think they were on the same level,” Lowery said.
The reunion reassured the former drill instructors that the Marines who currently sport the campaign cover are still the same breed.
“They come from the same mold,” said retired Sgt. Maj. Gary Truscott, a former drill instructor. “They still wear their covers too low and lean back too far when they march.”
Congrats from far away
Master Sgt. Mike Holcomb almost missed his son’s graduation from boot camp.
Holcomb, who is deployed to Iraq, would have missed Pfc. Chris Phibbs’ walk across the Peatross Parade Deck on Oct. 21. But modern technology sent a telecast of Phibbs’ graduation from Parris Island, S.C., to Al Asad Air Base, according to a Corps press release.
While in Iraq, Holcomb had worked with the Freedom Calls Center, which specializes in connecting Marines in Iraq with their families in the United States, according to Chris’ mother, Tammy Holcomb.
With help from Good To Go Video and Parris Island’s Computer Systems Support Facility, the teleconference went into motion.
Holcomb gave his son words of encouragement from thousands of miles away that sent tears down some faces.
“No matter what happens, just know that what you did today is nothing short of amazing,” he told his son.
Take our poll
On Nov. 14, a random selection of our active-duty subscribers will be mailed our annual Military Times Poll. This comprehensive poll takes the pulse of the military on issues ranging from job satisfaction to religion to the war in Iraq.
If you receive a questionnaire, please take five minutes to complete it and drop it in the mail. We pay the postage and guarantee anonymity.
Results will be published in our Jan. 9 issue.
Correction
An article in the Oct. 31 edition of Marine Corps Times (“A missed opportunity,” Page 15) incorrectly named the company commanded by Capt. Phillip Ash of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines. He is commander of Kilo Company.
News Briefs
One sexy leatherneck
Pvt. Jake Lybrook doesn’t rate a ribbon or medal for his newest award. But it’s improved his chances of finding a date.
Lybrook, a 21-year-old Marine, is one of America’s 50 sexiest bachelors, according to Cosmopolitan magazine.
His mother, Robin Edinger, nominated Lybrook for the contest. “He is a good-looking kid, but I don’t view him as sexy or hot,” she said. “He’s a cutie-pie to me.”
Lybrook had nothing to do with it. He was in training with his unit — Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines — when his mother learned that he had been chosen.
Winners of the annual contest are usually treated to a round of parties and media appearances, but Lybrook was busy with training and, in August, deployed to Iraq.
Before he left, he found time to pose for a photographer. Photos in the magazine and on its Web site are accompanied by tidbits about the bachelors. Lybrook’s includes a quote on why he joined the Corps.
Cosmopolitan provides an e-mail link to reach the bachelors. That’s presented a bit of a problem for Lybrook, whose unit is fighting insurgents in western Iraq.
Edinger said that her son has received 300 e-mails from women. “He tells me, ‘I don’t want to be mean, but we’re really busy over here.’”
She offered to help him respond. “He said, ‘No way, because some of them are sending pictures.’”
Running to honor the fallen
Marines from 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, ran in the Marine Corps Marathon this year in honor of their fallen comrades.
The reservists made the decision while they were still in Fallujah, Iraq, after their platoon suffered two casualties, said Capt. David Herron, the platoon’s commander.
The platoon returned home with three injured Marines, two of whom were amputees. Both the amputees ran the first and last mile of the marathon on prosthetic legs.
“We stayed offensive and aggressive to the enemy during the whole deployment,” Herron said. “This is our last mission to honor those who will never be able to run a marathon.”
The Marines ran the Oct. 30 marathon wearing red shirts that read, “Texas Recon” on the front and “in memory of Jeremiah Kinchen and Steven Gill” on the back.
San Clemente guard duty
San Clemente, Calif., now has a Marine permanently standing post.
According to a press release from the Heritage of San Clemente Foundation, city officials unveiled a Marine Monument at Park Semper Fi on Nov. 12.
Park Semper Fi is on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The monument consists of an 11-foot bronze statue of a Marine in dress blues saluting a flag and looking out over the ocean.
Welcome back, hat
Marines who served a tour on the drill field as far back as the 1960s visited Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Oct. 20-22 for the first West Coast Drill Instructor Reunion, according to a Corps news release.
As many as 112 retired drill instructors and more than 150 active-duty DIs shared drill duty stories, the release said.
“We wanted to show our appreciation for all drill instructors — past, present and future — and to allow an opportunity to renew old friendships and make new friends,” said Sgt. Maj. Frank E. Pulley, depot and Western Recruiting Region sergeant major.
Events included a graduation review and memorial service in honor of fallen DIs and corpsmen.
Staff Sgt. Darrick Lowery, a senior drill instructor from the depot’s 2nd Battalion, said a retired drill instructor noticed that a DI took off his cover while his recruits were in a classroom.
“They didn’t do that back then. He said they didn’t want the recruits to think they were on the same level,” Lowery said.
The reunion reassured the former drill instructors that the Marines who currently sport the campaign cover are still the same breed.
“They come from the same mold,” said retired Sgt. Maj. Gary Truscott, a former drill instructor. “They still wear their covers too low and lean back too far when they march.”
Congrats from far away
Master Sgt. Mike Holcomb almost missed his son’s graduation from boot camp.
Holcomb, who is deployed to Iraq, would have missed Pfc. Chris Phibbs’ walk across the Peatross Parade Deck on Oct. 21. But modern technology sent a telecast of Phibbs’ graduation from Parris Island, S.C., to Al Asad Air Base, according to a Corps press release.
While in Iraq, Holcomb had worked with the Freedom Calls Center, which specializes in connecting Marines in Iraq with their families in the United States, according to Chris’ mother, Tammy Holcomb.
With help from Good To Go Video and Parris Island’s Computer Systems Support Facility, the teleconference went into motion.
Holcomb gave his son words of encouragement from thousands of miles away that sent tears down some faces.
“No matter what happens, just know that what you did today is nothing short of amazing,” he told his son.
Take our poll
On Nov. 14, a random selection of our active-duty subscribers will be mailed our annual Military Times Poll. This comprehensive poll takes the pulse of the military on issues ranging from job satisfaction to religion to the war in Iraq.
If you receive a questionnaire, please take five minutes to complete it and drop it in the mail. We pay the postage and guarantee anonymity.
Results will be published in our Jan. 9 issue.
Correction
An article in the Oct. 31 edition of Marine Corps Times (“A missed opportunity,” Page 15) incorrectly named the company commanded by Capt. Phillip Ash of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines. He is commander of Kilo Company.