Iraq Edges Towards Civil War

[thedrifter]

Iraq Edges Towards Civil War
United Press International
December 28, 2004

NEW YORK - Iraq faces the prospect of civil war as Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government loses credibility and violence against U.S. forces increases, according to almost a half dozen former and serving administration officials.

In last Tuesday's suicide bombing attack at a mess tent at Mosul, 22 were killed -- 18 of them Americans -- and 50 wounded.

"We can't afford to keep taking that kind of hit," a Pentagon official said. "We can't afford it in terms of American public opinion, and it causes us to loose credibility with the Iraqi public."

Upcoming January elections will not improve the deteriorating security situation, these sources said, all speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitiveness of the topic.

Plus a new threat has arisen.

"We are starting to play the ethnic card in Iraq, just as the Soviets played it in Afghanistan," said former CIA chief of Afghanistan operation Milt Bearden.




"You only play it when you're losing and by playing it, you simply speed up the process of losing," he said.

Phoebe Marr, an analyst who closely follows events in Iraq, told United Press International that "having the U.S. military unleash different historical enemies on each other has become an unspoken U.S. policy."

Bearden, Marr and others also referred to the Pentagon's tactic of pitting one group of enemies against another in Iraq as being fraught with danger.

For example, during the assault on Fallujah, wary of the reliability of Iraqi forces, the Marines used 2,000 Kurdish Peshmerga militia troops against the Arab Sunnis. The two groups share a long history of mistrust and animosity, according to Marr.

Both ethnic groups are Sunni, but Kurds speak a different language, have distinct customs, and are not Arabs.

"I think the U.S. military is trying to get ethnic groups to take on the insurgents, and I don't think it will work," Marr said.

According to a former senior CIA official, the agency is dealing with reports of ethnic cleansing being undertaken by the Kurds in areas near Kirkuk.

"It's all taking place off everyone's radar, and it's very quiet, but it's happening," this source said.

Original reports disclosing that up to 150,000 Arab Sunnis had been uprooted and placed in camps have proved to be unreliable, several U.S. officials said.

"There's so much white noise, so much unreliable rumor in the air," said Middle East expert Tony Cordesman. "You are going to have to get data from people on site, not from those in the rear areas."

According to Marr, Iraq has always been a complicated mosaic of religious and ethnic groups and tribes. The tilt of the Bush administration towards Iraq's Shiites, who compromise 60 percent of the population, upset the balance of power, she said.

Former Defense Intelligence Agency chief of Middle East operations, Pat Lang, said the key blunder was the disbanding of Iraq's 400,000-man army. "At a stroke, we went from a liberator to an occupier."

A Pentagon official said that the Iraqi army had been "a respected institution," in Marr's words, "a focal point of national identity," utterly abolished.

From the beginning, sectarian and ethnic groups have been quietly at war. A U.S. intelligence official told United Press International that soon after the U.S. victory, there were Shiite assassination squads "that were going around settling scores that dated back from the time (Iraqi leader) Saddam Hussein was in power."

There were also suicide bombings of Shiites by Islamist jihadis allegedly led by Abu Musab Zarqawi, an Islamist militant now associated with al-Qaida. According to the intelligence official, Zarqawi in the late 1990s was responsible for bombing Shiites in Iran from his base in Pakistan where he was associated with the militant SSP party.

The Sunni Arabs, once the leading political group under Saddam Hussein, feel threatened and made politically impotent by the Shiite majority, according to U.S. officials.

This partly explains their leadership of a broad, deeply entrenched insurgency designed to humiliate American military power, keep the bulk of the Sunni population on the fence, and rally anti-U.S. forces in the region, U.S. officials said.

While the Shiites and Kurds are eager to participate in the upcoming elections, the Sunnis are indifferent, U.S. officials said. "They feel they don't have a dog in this fight," a former senior CIA official said.

Another problem is the Iraqi middleclass, many of them Sunni, and almost all of them anti-American, according to Marr. "They disliked us in the past because the U.N. sanctions made them suffer. When the war came, they had expectations that were much too high. Then they became passive and they won't work with us, and yet this is the only chance they're going to get."

"The Sunnis and Shiites don't like the occupation and want us out as soon as possible," she added. "Their idea is that if a security force is needed, they want to do it themselves."

The Sunnis are also divided. "Iraq is such a complex mosaic that breaks down into terribly diffuse groups," Marr said. "In places like Mosul, Basra and Baghdad, the Sunnis are secular professionals who look down their noses at the tribes and Shia."

Outside of Baghdad and the cities, the Sunnis are "isolated, and, by history, clannish and tribe-oriented," she said.

"But even with the Shiites, there is no real unity there either. Some are Iran-oriented, others are more secular," Marr said.

The war has made all three groups, Kurds, Shiites and Sunni, "crawl into themselves," she said.

And the future? "All sorts of ugly things could happen -- the Kurds could declare independence or the split between the Shiite and Sunni could deepen. The new Iraqi state could fail," an administration official said.

For Marr the outlook was also grim: "The whole Bush administration policy has been outrageously careless" and because of this, she said, the tenuous unity of Iraq "could break down."

Said former senior CIA Iraqi analyst Judith Yaphe: "Elections will not solve anything -- we are grasping for events that will enable us to get out of Iraq, but there are no such thing. Democracy is not an event but a process."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Kids Raise Money For Phone Cards
Associated Press
December 28, 2004

BOSTON - For all the billions of dollars being spent on the war in Iraq, 14-year-old Brittany Bergquist is surprised that the U.S. military doesn't do what she and her little brother are doing: helping soldiers phone home free.

"I'm kind of happy that they didn't supply them," she said, "because we've always wanted to do something for the soldiers."

With $14 from their piggy banks, she and 12-year-old brother Robbie started Cell Phones for Soldiers. In less than nine months, the organization has provided $250,000 worth of prepaid calling cards to American soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.

They raise money by collecting old cellular phones and selling them to companies that refurbish them for resale.

It all started in April, when the family heard about a Massachusetts soldier who ran up $7,600 in cell phone charges calling home from Iraq. T-Mobile forgave much of the bill. But Brittany and Robbie figured there must be other soldiers - including a cousin of theirs - who are stationed in Iraq and want to call home more often but cannot afford it.





The Bergquist kids pooled their money and got friends to kick in $7 more. They opened a bank account at South Shore Savings Bank, which was so impressed it contributed $500. Yard sales followed, along with newspaper articles and TV interviews. Hundreds of schools and organizations, from Hawaii to Georgia, have started local chapters and become drop-off centers for used cell phones.

"It's hard doing everything," said Brittany, an eighth-grader from the Boston suburb of Norwell. "But it doesn't matter to us. We think about how hard the soldiers work every day and they don't have a choice to stop."

Last week, the IRS granted Cell Phones for Soldiers nonprofit status, meaning contributions to the cause are tax-deductible.

The USO, the private organization that entertains U.S. troops overseas, runs a similar program, called Operation Phone Home. A $10 donation will buy a serviceman or servicewoman a 100-minute global calling card.

Army Lt. Col. Joe Yoswa, a Pentagon spokesman, said soldiers can use military-run phone banks and Internet cafes, but they have to pay the costs out of their own pockets. And using a cell phone in Iraq can cost a soldier up to $3 a minute in roaming charges, according to Bob Bergquist, the Bergquist youngsters' science-teacher father.

The Bergquists have traveled to Minnesota, Texas, Louisiana and New York to hand out calling cards to soldiers about to be leave for the war zone.

The Bergquists have gotten appreciative e-mails from soldiers and their families. One wrote: "Hearing from family members is what keeps a soldier going and gives them the drive to get the job done and get home."

A woman e-mailed in September from Fort Stewart, Ga.: "My husband is going to Iraq in January for a year. He has been to Bosnia and Korea. So, we really understand the need for phone calls to take place. I have two beautiful girls (who) love to speak to their dad."

Brittany and her brother have made sacrifices. She skipped a statewide cheerleading competition, and Robbie has missed big soccer and hockey games. But Brittany said that helping families stay connected is the reward.

"That's a big motivation, for families to know where their sons and daughters are at all times," she said.

---

On the Net:

www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

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Iraqis Help Train American Troops
Associated Press
December 28, 2004

EDINBURGH, Ind. - As American soldiers attempted to tow a Humvee hit by a fake roadside bomb, Saleh Thanon, an Iraqi national, taunted them with insults.

"Criminal, get out of my country!" Thanon yelled in Arabic, heckling the troops in a mock Iraqi village. "I don't want you in my country. You're killing people."

Harsh words for someone who professes to love America, but Thanon is just doing his job. He's training troops for Iraq, and he wants them to be ready.

The Army has been using Iraqi nationals to help troops develop language and cultural skills since the invasion of that country in March 2003. They are among about 1,000 Arabic speakers the Army uses for training, said Bob Close, spokesman for U.S. Army Forces Command.

At least eight mobilization stations are using Iraqis to help Guard, reserve and active troops prepare for deployments, Close said. Among them are Camp Atterbury, 30 miles south of Indianapolis; the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., and the National Training Center at Fort Irvine, Calif.

Some days, the Iraqis play welcoming townspeople, friendly mayors or Iraqi police; on others, they portray terrorists or hostile villagers.




The training represents a change in philosophy for the military, said David R. Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland. Army troops have long received language help as they prepared for battle, but cultural training was nonexistent in such conflicts as the Vietnam War, he said.

Winning over the Iraqi people, who play a key role in this mission, is crucial to success, Segal said. "This is a war where cultural knowledge may be more important than the number of bullets that you have," he said.

Many of the participating Iraqis immigrated to the United States after the 1991 Persian Gulf War to escape oppression under Saddam Hussein's regime. Some are now American citizens.

Their work with U.S. troops is coordinated by defense contractors such as Goldbelt Eagle, which is paid $15 million to provide role players at five military bases. President Wayne Smith said applicants typically hear about the jobs through word of mouth or recruiters.

All participants must pass rigorous screenings by a private investigator and the government.

Thanon and his friend Salim Alshimary said they sought the work to help their homeland.

"I love this job, trying to help the U.S. military understand my language and my culture and save lives, both of them, the Iraq and the U.S.," Thanon said.

Alshimary, 36, of Basra, Iraq, said he deserted from the Iraqi Army after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He believes he would have been killed if he had not left the country.

He has been surprised by the postwar violence in his homeland.

"We never thought this bad stuff would happen," he said. "We thought it would be easy and it will be very quick."

It has been neither, which makes understanding the Iraqi culture essential, participants said.

Thanon, who attended Basra University and coached soccer in Iraq, advises the troops to not touch women and not to yell at children; both actions perceived as disrespectful.

In one scenario, he pretends to be the head of a household who won't cooperate with the troops unless they are polite.

"That way, I will help you get into my house and search my house and be friendly," Thanon said.

"We know the Americans go over to help us, but there are some people in Iraq that can't understand that because they see them do things in different ways."

Segal said those cultural differences were evident in the media portrayal last month of the shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man by a Marine in a Fallujah mosque.

The Arabic media expressed outrage that the Marines wore boots in the mosque - a taboo in the Muslim faith. The issue was hardly mentioned in the American media, Segal said.

Maj. Gen. Bruce Robinson, commander of the 98th Division, which recently deployed from Camp Atterbury to help train the Iraqi military, said the cultural lessons have been beneficial.

"We go in as guests to a host country and poised to respect the cultures and customs of that culture," Robinson said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Shelters Gear Up For Returning Vets
Boston Herald
December 28, 2004

Bay State shelters are bracing for an influx of Iraqi war veterans, concerned the returning troops will be confronted by costly housing, cheating wives and a tight job market when they get back home.

"We do expect to see veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts in the shelter. It's just about inevitable," said Stephen Spain of the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Boston.

Quincy is opening a lodging house with a floor designated for veterans, said John Yazwinski, executive director of Father Bill's Place, a shelter where vets make up 20 percent of the population.

"We are going to see people struggling with employment, housing and mental health and substance issues," said Yazwinski.

The city has a waiting list for another eight-unit veterans' rooming house that opened in 1997.

In New Bedford, the Veterans' Transition House is also preparing for post-war arrivals. "There are so many people over in Iraq now. At some point, we will start getting people," said executive director Dan Perry.




Complicating matters, thousands are returning home as amputees, as body armor improves the likelihood of a soldier surviving land-mine explosions and attacks, said Leslie Lightfoot, director of the Veterans Hospice Homestead in Fitchburg.

Many turn to alcohol and drugs to "numb some of the pain and memories," said Lightfoot.

Recent vets are already showing up in group therapy, said Lightfoot, who is helping them deal with anger toward the government, cheating wives and spouses who have drained bank accounts.

"I had a guy who didn't have the money to get a haircut because his wife had taken all the money he'd sent home and spent it," Lightfoot said.

Veterans make up about about 30 percent of the nation's homeless, said Fran McMorrow, director of the Quincy Veterans' House, where three jobless Iraq veterans already are receiving help.

"We're helping them with their rents," McMorrow said.

While reservists are promised their jobs upon returning home, others joined the military right out of high school.

Nearly two dozen unemployed Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enrolled in a job training program at the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, but the federal government recently cut funding for the program.

Nick Tenney, 23, joined the Marines after high school. The machine gunner returned to his parents' home in Lynn last summer after serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tenney recently took a security training course at the shelter.

"It's a whole different world when you're in the Marines and then you get out and come back into the civilian world," said Tenney. "It was kind of hard."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

12-27-2004

Iraq Is A Racket



Sir,

Can we win here or are we just stuck in a quagmire? There are many things to consider in this outwardly simple question. Political hand tieing, the very nature of the enemy, and our own political administration's motives for invading Iraq in the first place to name but a few. So far as political hand tieing is concerned here is a case in point. The Imam of one of the mosques in our area, a vociferously anti-coalition individual, and his mosque were once on our target list. It was basically common knowledge that the mosque was, and is a haven for the insurgents in a district that has supported the insurgency since the outset of the war. We had actively hunted him for more than six months. We raided this mosque at one point early in our tour here along with certain special operations elements and found a mountain of medical supplies. One of our platoon's squad leaders with experience in the medical field noted that these supplies were of the type used to treat trauma. No wonder we almost never found wounded insurgents at the local hospital after a firefight, they went to the damn mosque for treatment! At one point this imam called for a jihad against the "infidels" and has called for the citizens to rise up and fight against us on numerous occasions.

The Iraqi counter terror unit raided the mosque. With in 24 hours the Mehdi army retalliated and my unit was engaged in heaviest fighting we have seen since we have been in country. Within days he and his mosque appeared on the "do not target list". Another case in point comes in the form of one particular cell that we spent four months hunting down and either killing or capturing. The ones that we did not send to their maker spent a total of two months in Abu Ghraib, were then released, and are now back on the streets free to make war against us once again. This is typical of how things work here. It is almost as though someone, other than the guerrillas, does not want stability to be achieved here. Because so long as insecurity reigns then there will be a need for our involvement and opportunities for money to be made. As you know in order to win in a counter insurgency role we must take away the guerrilla's sanctuaries. During Vietnam it was the neighboring countries and North Vietnam. Places where the enemy could go to lick his wounds, consolidate and reorganize to fight again another day. Here it is the mosques and surrounding countries along with the very population we are supposedly trieing to protect. This brings us to the point of the nature of our enemy. It is apparent from my perspective that the guerrillas have a great deal of popular support. As Che Gueverra noted it is essential that guerrilla movement have popular support in order to have any chance at success. Not only that but the very structure of this over 4,000 year old society lends itself to the organization and protection of an insurgency. You, of course, are intimately familiar with guerrilla warfare and know the things that must be done to win. Militarily we whoop their ass in every engagement. Casualty ratios are always extremely lopsided in our favor much as they were in Vietnam. The insurgents are thankfully rather inept when it comes to the actual fighting.

However, I recall a documentary about Vietnam that I watched on the history channel years ago and some American General told General Giap that they had never defeated us on the field of battle and Giap replied, that yes this was true, but "it is also irrelevent". They did not need to defeat us on the battlefield to win the war, only to change pulic opinion in America enough to pressure the administration sufficiently to pull out. Well apparently our military, and government has no institutional memory, or the reason for being here does not include winning. To that end, what is the real reason for being here? There was obviously no real threat to the U.S. from Saddam's conventional forces. He simply did not possess the force projection to threaten us in that manner. Did he support terror? Probably. But we KNOW that Saudi Arabia actively supports terrorism and are we invading there? Hell no! They have far too much financial clout in the world and with our political leaders for us to **** with them like that. Unfortunately it is money that seems to be driving this whole thing. All the contractors and the like. Reconstruction etc. Hell I have seen ING wearing MICH helmets. The other day we spent a couple of hours on the range and I saw a bunch of ING with brand new AKs, black plastic stock types with holographic sights, Tac lights and the whole nine yards. The bottom line is that there is a ton of money to be made so long as the U.S. remains engaged here. Every Bradley that is lost, every Humvee that burns, every round that is fired, every meal that is served to American soldiers someone somewhere is making a buck.

So can we win here? Yes I believe fully that if we were allowed off the leash to wage war against the isnurgency as we see fit we could certainly win. In our zones we have enjoyed tremendous success by combining the efforts of Special Forces and conventional forces to ID, locate and remove the guerrilla elements. If the rest of the Army were to use our successful operations as a new paradigm for future operations against these bastards we could win. But that is simply not going to happen. The Army has one hell of a rough time with any type of change. Hell, "About Face" is a prime example of this problem. You had the solution and noone was willing to listen. As was done in Vietnam the ones wearing the suits and ties are calling the shots in this war. Compounding these problems is the money factor. Unfortunately certain key people appear to have dollar signs in their eyes and are blinded by them. No matter how many service members fall the allure of money and the incredible power of greed can override any sense of responsibility in those who are making the cash. Sure Saddam was a brute and needed to be taken out and that was an excellent achievment. However it is not my belief that we are here for some noble cause of freeing the Iraqi people. Despite the fact that the war has the beneficial side effect of acting as a magnet for the terrorists, drawing them here and causing them to commit assets here that could be used elsewhere we are not here to prevent the spread of terror.

The bottom line for me personally is that I am a soldier. While our political leader's motives for waging war may be questionable the reasons that a soldier fights cannot be questioned. We fight for our brothers in arms, we fight for survival, we fight for each other. I belong to this fight. And I will continue to fight and to lead soldiers until my country says it is time to stop or until God calls me home.

A Grunt Squad Leader


Ellie

[thedrifter]

12-27-2004

For the Record: Iraq Isn’t Enough



Editor’s Note: This email memorandum was provided to DefenseWatch by a Reserve Component officer who notes that the essence of the document is, “Simply having served a tour in Iraq isn’t enough to get you out.”



From: Slay, Leonette W Ms. 81 HQ DCS G1



Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 5:32 PM



To: All in 81st RSC MSC/DRU CDR; All in 81st RSC MSC/DRU SR FTUS; All in

81st RSC TPU Primary Staff; All in 81st RSC TPU Special Staff; All in

81st RSC FTS Primary Staff; All in 81st RSC FTS Special Staff



Cc: All in 81st RRC Command Group; Saul, Renee A COL 81 HQ DCS G1;

Studebaker, Harry D Mr 81 HQ DCS G1; Johnson, Raymond E Mr 81 HQ DCS G1



Subject: Unqualified Resignations: New USARC Guidance



Importance: High



Please see new guidance below on the criteria under which USARC G1 will approve requests for unqualified resignations of an officer’s commission. Request that you give this guidance wide dissemination and use it when recommending approval or disapproval of an officer’s request.



Ms. Slay

HRO



-----Original Message-----



From: Underwood, Danny L Mr USARC G1



Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 3:53 PM



To: USARC G1 MPO; Belk, Douglas COL, HRC-St. Louis; Darling, William

MAJ, HRC-St. Louis; Prewitt, Helen COL, HRC-St. Louis



Cc: Thomas, Billy W USARC G1; Hill, Eric J LTC USARC G1; White, Jeffery

E Mr USARC G1; Lynn, Joyce D SSG USARC G1; Schear, Ramona H Ms USARC G1;

Jacaruso, Natalie*COL (94RRC-ODCS,G1)



Subject: Unqualified Resignations (UNCLASSIFIED)



Classification: UNCLASSIFIED



Caveats: NONE



Ladies and Gentlemen,



Below is the guidance that will be used by us for approving resignations:



1. The USARC DCS, G-1, under the authority delegated by the Cdr, US Army Reserve Command, will approve requests for unqualified resignation by non-obligated officers who are not subject to Reserve Component Stop Loss if one or more of the following criteria are met:



a. The officer previously completed a term of mobilized service in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, or Iraqi Freedom.



b. The officer provides convincing evidence of compelling personal reasons for separation. Documentation must include statements of counseling from Army medical or chaplain personnel.



c. The officer is assigned to a rank and specialty with current officer personnel strength above 50% of authorized manning.



2. Compelling personal reasons for separation may exist under the following

circumstances:



a. Death or disability of an officer’s family member which results in other family members becoming principally dependent upon him or her for care or support to the extent that continued service would result in undue and genuine hardship.



b. Other circumstances not involving the death or disability of a family member (as noted in paragraph 5a above) in which the separation of the officer will materially affect the care or support of his or her family by alleviating undue and genuine hardship.



3. In order for an unqualified resignation request to be favorably considered on the basis of compelling personal reasons, the officer must clearly establish that:



a. The hardship is permanent, did not exist prior to entry into the Army Reserve, and can only be eliminated or materially alleviated by the officer’s separation; or



b. If the hardship existed prior to entry into the Army Reserve, the hardship is permanent, has significantly worsened since entry into the Army Reserve in spite of the officer’s reasonable efforts to remedy the situation, and can only be eliminated or materially alleviated by the officer’s separation.



4. Officers whose resignation request is based on their own statement of a medical condition will be referred to a medical evaluation board to determine medical fitness.



5. Unqualified resignation requests from officers subject to Reserve Component Stop Loss will be returned to the officers without action with an explanation that Reserve Component Stop Loss policy extends service through the period of mobilization plus 90 days. Officers should also be advised that they may submit a resignation request after the Stop Loss stabilization period has expired.



6. Mr. Jeff White at (404) 464-8977 or SSG Joyce Lynn at (404) 464-9627 can provide assistance to your staff.



Danny L. Underwood

Chief, Military Personnel Management Division

Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1

Voice: 404.464.8904

Fax: 404.464.8950



Classification: UNCLASSIFIED



Caveats: NONE

Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Mortuary Affairs unit catalogues the dead just yards from Marines on Fallujah battlefields


(Camp Fallujah, Iraq-AP, Dec. 27, 2004 11:10 PM) _ When U.S. servicemen and insurgents die in Fallujah, the bodies are brought back to camp and laid on a concrete floor under a tent hidden behind blast walls topped with concertina wire. The sign outside says: "Do Not Enter."

Five men check the corpses and put them in refrigerators. Within 72 hours, the slain American will arrive at Delaware's Dover Air Force Base in a flag-draped coffin, while the Iraqi will be buried in a plot outside Fallujah facing Mecca.

This is the work of Mortuary Affairs, the Marine unit that catalogues the remains of American servicemen who die in combat, referred to as angels, as well as the Iraqi guerrillas they fight and civilian victims. These Marines must cope with one of the most psychologically punishing but unavoidable tasks of war.

They are shunned by their peers because of a superstition that contact with them brings bad luck. Yet some don't want to go home and leave their fellow Marines who are among the few who have witnessed the same horrors. They must try to stay sane even as they are confronted with the effects of gruesome killings by the shrapnel-filled roadside bombs set by insurgents and terrible U.S. firepower.

"Some of the guys, when it gets dark, don't want to go out by themselves. Sometimes they feel like somebody's watching them when they know there isn't," said Lance Cpl. Boyce Kerns, a 24-year-old from Greenville, S.C. "Some of the stuff we've seen you wouldn't see in the worst horror movies and it leaves a little imprint."

It may be unsettling for soldiers and Marines to pass the Mortuary Affairs compound as they prepare to go out into Fallujah's dangerous streets. But the unit's presence here reflects a change in thinking meant to cut down on missing in action and get the dead sent home as quickly as possible.

Instead of working hundreds of miles from the battlefield, Mortuary Affairs units operate just minutes from it, sometimes processing a Marine's corpse just hours after he dies. In this area west of Baghdad, the unit has 15-20 servicemen at three camps: Taqaddum, Al Asad and Fallujah.

"What was happening was a lot of bodies didn't have positive IDs," said Gunnery Sgt. Byron Bess, 37, from Washington. "By the time they got to the area, they were unidentified and you couldn't get in touch with the units because they'd pushed forward."

Bess said the change is one reason there is only one American serviceman currently listed as missing in action in Iraq, Army Spc. Keith M. Maupin, of Batavia, Ohio.

Since Oct. 7, Mortuary Affairs has processed 84 Americans along with 26 Iraqi soldiers and 525 insurgents. During the worst of the Fallujah fighting, which began Nov. 8 and lasted a week, the unit handled up to about 10 Marines a day and many more insurgents.

The unit is still pulling Iraqi bodies from the city. On a recent day, four sets of Iraqi remains arrived -- one, just a pile of bones and rags, another a man clad in black and wearing running shoes, had been on the street for days.

Many in the Mortuary Affairs unit at Camp Fallujah are reservists, former cooks and supply clerks from a unit in Washington. On a recent day, their routine was perfectly normal. Several sat around a television watching "Saving Private Ryan," others laughed and teased each other, while some were about to leave to play video games.

Some, like Kerns, volunteered for the work because they just wanted to join the Iraq fight no matter what. Others decided to do it so their colleagues wouldn't have to, and some were assigned.

They were sent to a two-week training course that included a stop at the Baltimore morgue to get accustomed to the sight and smell of death. Many among them had never seen a human corpse before.

"As for seeing the insurgents dead, I know that these guys were out there killing Marines, they were given a choice whether to surrender or not, so seeing their corpses mangled up doesn't bother you," said Cpl. Jeffrey Keating, a 26-year-old from Queens, N.Y. "But seeing the Marines dead, that hurts a little bit more. But you just got to see it as a
job."

The 16 Marines who process the dead, working eight at a time in 24-hour shifts, follow the same routine.

When a body arrives, it is brought inside the tent and placed on a concrete floor. Two men are the "dirty hands" who inspect the body, catalogue wounds and check for unexploded weapons. One sorts through the slain person's belongings. Two more are the "clean hands," writing down what the others find.

The dead American's name, social security numbers and place of death are written into a hardcover lime-green log book. The body is given an evacuation number and then placed in a body bag -- a stack of unused bags labeled "pouch, human remains w/6 handles" sits to the side of the tent.

Iraqi dead go to a white refrigerator while American dead go to one of two camouflage refrigerators on the other side of the tent. The entire process usually takes about 15 minutes.

American bodies are then sent to a U.S. base in Doha, Qatar and on to Dover, while Iraqi bodies are buried in a plot outside Fallujah marked with coordinates from a global positioning system so relatives can identify the remains later.

"We take a picture, make sure there's no unexploded ordnance or personal effects, and look for identification," said Marine Cpl. John Belizario, 23, of Washington. "We bury them in a plot -- four rows of 10, all facing Mecca as a sign of respect, basically."

When the work is finished, the Marines clean up and go to chow hall. Anyone who knows who they are stays away or barely acknowledges them because talking to them is considered bad luck.

"When the day is done, we're by ourselves," Kerns said. "We've tried to have interaction with the other units, but when they find out what we do, that's about the end of that."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

1/8 Marines check cement factory for terrorists
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2004122832618
Story by Cpl. Randy L. Bernard



FALLUJAH, Iraq (Dec. 27, 2004) -- With the citizens of Fallujah waiting to return to their homes and city, the Marines currently operating in the city are concerned about insurgents making their way back in with the rest of the populace.

To ensure a safe return for the people of Fallujah, Marines with Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, checked up on a cement factory where hundreds of displaced Fallujans have taken up temporary residence.

At the first light of day, the Marines of the company were poised around the factory, ready to launch a surgical raid on what was known to be an area of terrorist activity. The factory is a key objective not only for the Marines, but for the people of Iraq.

“This factory was a major industrial facility, the majority of cement in the city of Fallujah and the other outlying villages came from here,” said Capt. Read M. Omohundro, the company commander.

According to Omohundro, a 34-year-old native of Fort Worth, Fla. “There have been indirect fire attacks coming from the area of the factory, and they suspect some of those weapons may be stored in the area.

“We’ve always wanted to check this place out,” said Omohundro, “But now that they are going to let the people back in, we are going to make sure there aren’t any terrorists going back in there with weapons, especially after all of the hard work everyone did in the city to get rid of those things.”

The Marines had to exercise extreme care when entering the facility, because not only was there a large group of civilians living among the buildings, but because the factory can still be used in the reconstruction efforts in Fallujah by supplying cement, mortar, and tiles to the city.

While the Marines were patrolling the facility, members of the Iraqi Security Forces spoke with the civilians to ensure that the people knew what was going on.

While the ISF were interacting with the people, they were also keeping an open ear for any foreign accents or any other bits of information that could aid in finding anyone that wasn’t supposed to be there.

While examining the buildings for weapons caches, the Marines patrolled the facility to interact with the civilians.

“From a strategic viewpoint, we are also here to interact with the people. So when they go back into the city, we can continue to win their hearts and minds and let them know that we may have been heavy handed in the city, but we are going to take care of them as best as we can,” said Omohundro. “It’s unfortunate but a lot of innocent civilians got caught in the middle of this.”

After a long day of patrolling, the Marines did not find any hidden weapons or terrorists. Though their interaction with the people did pay off. The Marines learned that the people had not been equally sharing the food and supplies given to them. With that information, the Marines will be able to supply them with an equal share of the humanitarian aid they need.





Marines of Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, crouch at an intersection within the cement factory. The Marines patrolled the facility, searching the buildings for weapons caches or enemy fighters. Photo by: Cpl. Randy L. Bernard

Ellie

[thedrifter]

St. Nick visits Marines of HMM-774
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 2004122822218
Story by Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte



AL ASAD, Iraq (Dec. 27, 2004) -- A day of rain and months worth of clashes with insurgent forces weren't enough to dampen the Christmas spirit of the "Wild Goose," a reserve CH-46E Sea Knight squadron based in Norfolk, Va. Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 774, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, held a Christmas Day party at Al Asad, Iraq that included a surprise visitor for the Marines.

Gone was the traditional early morning gift exchange, but that doesn't mean moods should be as sour as Ebenezer Scrooge, said Lt. Col. Rex Bartles, plans officer, HMM-774.

"It went great. We had a lot of people out here laughing and smiling which is a big plus from what you normally see. It pulls guys out of the work rut and the routine we normally do," said the 44-year-old from Ringgold, Ga. "You take a break and get your mind away from the everyday mission over here to have some fun and some laughs. Everything's brown out here in the desert, but we've got lights and music, just a nice change from everything."

The reserve squadron deployed to Iraq earlier this year and this holiday season marks a milestone for a majority of the younger Marines, said Sgt. Michael Williamson, Sea Knight crew chief, HMM-774.

"For a lot of the younger guys, this is their first Christmas away from home and I think stuff like this shows them that the Marine Corps is a good organization and they have people that care about them here," said the 24-year-old from Baton Rouge, La. "It's good to see all this going on. You get to come out here and have a little bit of fun. You don't get a chance to do this on a day-to-day basis with the (operational tempo) so when you get a chance to slow down and do this it's real nice to do."

A surprise visitor in the form of a jolly old elf even showed after a 24-hour, globetrotting work-shift to bolster spirits even higher. St. Nick, Santa Claus himself, made an appearance to grant a few holiday wishes and hand out "sand-bag stockings" filled with gifts from Americans back home.

After the Marines got their gifts from Santa, the squadron was serenaded by the musical styling of their own Marines who sang a few Christmas carols, one of which was revamped to reflect the squadron's time in Iraq. The Marines sang "The Twelve (general support) missions of Christmas," which parodied the classic, "Twelve Days of Christmas."

The time and effort put into the party was great for the Marines who have been working long hours since arriving in country, Williamson said.

"A lot of squadron's wouldn't take the time to do all this even if they had the availability to do it, so it's kind of cool to actually be out here when they're making the effort when they could very easily not do it," Williamson said. "Doing things like this helps the morale out a lot. Day to day here gets pretty monotonous and boring sometimes. It shows everybody they still kind of have a family out here in the Marine Corps even though they're not home with their real family."

Although the Marines have to contend with the loneliness of being away from their families this holiday season, they have stepped up and filled the void for each other and portrayed that "band of brothers" concept unique to the Marine Corps this Christmas, said Sgt. Robert Kuzniar, airframes mechanic, HMM-774.

"This was great and more than I ever expected it could be. We're a family out here and we make the best of what we can," Kuzniar said. "It definitely shows that there are a lot of creative minds here that can take a bad situation and just turn it into something that is pretty good for everyone. There are a lot of young guys out here and this is something they'll remember for the rest of their lives. There are a lot of lonely individuals out here and this probably put a smile on their faces."




Sgt. Maj. Steve M. Golder, squadron Sgt. Maj., Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 774, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, sits on Santa Claus's lap and tells him what he wants for Christmas. Santa visited the reserve squadron from Norfolk, Va., during their Christmas Day party at Al Asad, Iraq to deliver presents and lift their spirits. Photo by: Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq in Transition
from the December 28, 2004 edition

GETTING READY: Professionals wrote campaign banners at their home in Baghdad Sunday, Dec. 19. They work from home for fear their shop will be bombed.
SAMIR MIZBAN/AP



Problems mount for Iraqi vote

A UN memo details added concerns about registration and security before election Jan. 30.

By Annia Ciezadlo | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

ARBIL, IRAQ – Planning an election is difficult even under the best of circumstances. As one United Nations consultant remarked, it's "the largest logistical operation that a country undertakes outside warfare." To pull it off, many postconflict nations need at least a year.
Iraq is aiming for eight months.


But with election day less than five weeks away, the Iraqi effort to choose 18 provincial councils and a 275-member National Assembly that will appoint a central government and draft Iraq's constitution is facing serious logistical problems. The short time frame, coupled with the insurgency, is forcing Iraq's election commission to sacrifice both voter education and the safeguards necessary for a fair election. The logistical hurdles also raise questions about the legitimacy of the Jan. 30 vote.

A new memo from the chief UN election official in Iraq, obtained by the Monitor, spells out an array of serious challenges:

• The number of new voter registrations is below expectations.

• Even though polling centers are likely to be attacked, Iraq's election commission is asking to use schools as voting sites, and trying to draft teachers and school administrators to work the polls on election day.

• A security assessment found that the warehouses for storing ballots in some provinces are not "fully defendable" in case of attack.

• The $55 million program for out-of-country voting by Iraqi expatriates has faced "significant delays." Fourteen countries are scrambling to allow eligible Iraqi exiles to vote in the Jan. 30 election.

One of the few bright spots is the number of people who are running for office. Preliminary figures showed close to 19,000 candidates, 6,239 of whom were competing for National Assembly seats.

But in Anbar province, where the violence-torn cities of Fallujah and Ramadi are located, there are only 43 candidates competing for a 41-seat provincial council.

"While there is no technical reason ... to cancel the election (as there are more candidates than seats)," said the memo, "the board is carefully studying the situation to determine whether that election should go ahead as planned."

On Monday, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Muslim political group, announced it was pulling out of the election, citing the same types of concerns outlined in the memo: difficult security and lack of public education about the vote.

Iraq's election commission has been hampered from the beginning by a violent insurgency. In July, one of the seven commission members resigned due to safety concerns. (The commission has seven Iraqi members and two nonvoting UN advisers.)

By September, the commissioners were still "begging" international agencies for funds to protect themselves and their families, according to an international consultant who asked not to be named.

"When the election commissioners are asking the UN to find a donor for your election commission's security, that's a big problem," said the consultant. "How does that allow you to focus on your work, if you have to worry about your family members being threatened?"

Poll workers targeted

Insurgents are targeting poll workers, too. Sundus al-Shemmeri, a young Iraqi journalist who quit her job to help prepare for the elections, was approached by an acquaintance with ties to the insurgency. "He said, 'Be warned: If you work with this organization, they will do to you what they did to Margaret Hassan [a charity worker who was killed by insurgents],'" said Ms. Shemmeri, laughing nervously.

These threats are serious: On Dec. 19, insurgents dragged three elections workers out of the their car on a busy Baghdad thoroughfare and shot them execution-style in the street.

The danger to election workers has made it difficult to find enough people to work the polls. According to the memo, the election commission is planning to ask Iraq's Ministry of Education for permission to use schools as polling centers, and teachers and administrators to staff them.

While that may solve the immediate staffing problem, it could make schools vulnerable to attack in a country where many parents are already afraid to send their children to school.

The number of polling centers will be lower than expected. The memo puts the number of polling centers at "no more than 6,000, with no more than 29,000 polling stations" - a significant reduction from earlier estimates of 9,000 polling centers and 40,000 or so polling stations.

Voter registration problems

That's partly because voter registration is below expectations. According to the memo, about 200,000 people made corrections and about 650,000 made new registrations. Divided into the total number of eligible voters - about 15 million - they come out to about 5.6 percent.

The numbers are approximate, and data from Anbar province is still missing. But the low numbers may mean that some people won't be able to vote if their food ration cards are inaccurate or outdated.

Because Iraq has no official census, voters were registered through ration cards from the UN oil-for-food program, which began in 1996. If the existing ration card information was correct, they didn't have to register or make a correction.

The low number could mean that ration cards were mostly correct. But it could also mean that Iraqis are counting on being able to use invalid ration cards.

"A big fear is that people in the Sunni triangle just won't register, and will count on current registration because they weren't able to confirm their registration during the confirmation period," said the consultant.

The electoral commission is debating whether to extend voter registration in Kirkuk, where leading Kurdish political parties have called for a boycott of the provincial election.

Despite the low numbers, the election commission decided not to extend registration countrywide, mainly for logistical reasons, noting that an extension would create a "tremendous new operational burden on the election administration - and just as the administration is attempting to prepare for polling day."

But the biggest problem for the elections, consultants say, is still the truncated time for voter and candidate education.

"All of them need education - civic education," said another international consultant working to prepare Iraqis for the poll. "They still don't know the rules."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

In search of elusive bin Laden


December 28, 2004


Where is Osama bin Laden? We have heard from him via video and audiotape. But despite one of the most aggressive manhunts in history, his capture has proven elusive.

The most likely answer is Pakistan. Common knowledge places bin Laden near the Afghan border, particularly in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas, where the terrain is rugged, at turns mountainous or desert. The tribes are often sympathetic to bin Laden and his Islamist cause, and hostile to the United States and Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf. Many supported the jihad against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, the Taliban in the 1990s, and now al-Qaida's jihad against the U.S.

U.S. intelligence and military resources are now focused on Iraq, and U.S. forces in Afghanistan are restricted from pursuing al-Qaida and Taliban fighters into Pakistan. The CIA has reportedly set up bases within Pakistan to hunt bin Laden, but they are largely dependent upon Pakistanis for support. Most locals are not inclined to help.

Understandably, some Americans are asking if Pakistan -- which receives billions of dollars in U.S. aid -- is doing all it can to capture America's most dangerous adversary. There is no easy solution. For Pakistan, sustained military operations in the border region -- or permission to the U.S military to operate within Pakistan -- could fuel violence and even rebellion. For the U.S., we are so dependent upon Pakistan for cooperation on Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation that it is hard for us to "get tough" on the issue of bin Laden.

But bin Laden's freedom is a blow to U.S. credibility and a boost to al-Qaida's propaganda. Killing or capturing him is necessary to achieve a measure of justice for 9/11 and other terrorist attacks, and is a stated goal of U.S. policy. Meanwhile, bin Laden can present himself to his followers and the wider Islamic world as a daring revolutionary, decrying, striking and then defying the world's greatest superpower.

Perhaps more important is bin Laden's role in the global Islamist terrorist movement. Al-Qaida now lacks the fixed command and control system used to carry out the 9/11 attacks, but recent tapes demonstrate how bin Laden provides broad strategic guidance to a global decentralized network of terrorist groups. Several months ago, he called for attacks on American allies in the Iraq war, and the Madrid bombings followed. Bin Laden's calls for jihad in Iraq may have fueled the insurgency, or at least aligned al-Qaida's cause with those fighting in Iraq. In recent tapes, bin Laden has singled out the Saudi government for attacks and overthrow, threatening the global oil supply.

Bin Laden has also dropped his most inflammatory language about killing all Americans, and has targeted contempt on policies such as the Iraq war and support for Israel, which are widely unpopular in the Islamic world. He has also highlighted the strain placed on America's budget and trade deficits, pointing out that the 9/11 attacks cost al-Qaida $500,000 and have led to $500,000 billion in costs to the U.S.

This shift may be intended to draw wider support from those who oppose American policies yet resist violence. Bin Laden may also be laying out a clear strategic vision for his followers: target America and its interests in the Persian Gulf, overthrow the Saudi government, sever the Western alliance, and overextend American economic and military power.

There is no doubt that bin Laden is evil. But we should not underestimate his capabilities. He is an effective propagandist, strategist and leader of men. No doubt somewhere in the world he is plotting attacks on the United States, and fomenting terrorism and instability around the world. His removal must remain an urgent priority in 2005.

Hamilton is the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. He served as a U.S. representative from Indiana from 1965 to 1999.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Six Area Marines Wounded In Iraq
Bartonville
HOI 19 News

Hoi 19 News has learned that six marines from Bartonville-based Charlie Company "C" have been injured in a roadside attack in the al-Anbar province of Iraq. At least three of the soldiers are from Central Illinois including Corporal Matthew Dickson of Springfield...Corporal Peter Carey of Washington... and Lance Corporal Tyler Zeigel of Bartonville.

No fatalities have been reported, but at least three of the marines were flown to Germany for medical treatment.

About 130 members of Company C were deployed in August for the second time since the war in Iraq began.

Two members of the unit died in Iraq on their last deployment.

We will update this story as the information is made available.



Ellie

[thedrifter]

Madison Police Search For Stolen Money From Marines Fund
2 In Custody

POSTED: 12:42 p.m. CST December 23, 2004
UPDATED: 9:34 p.m. CST December 23, 2004


Story by Channel 3000

MADISON, Wis. -- Police say they have caught the people responsible for stealing money meant for Marines overseas.

The money was stolen in November outside a Wal-Mart. Two men ran up and grabbed a bin the money was in.

Police said tips led them to two suspects, an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old. They're still trying to find the money.

As bad as it was, organizers say it helped get the word out about their collection drive.

"People just came from everywhere and donated money it was just phenomenal and they still are," said organizer Chris Lowery.

While the missing money has not been recovered, an additional $20,000 has been raised for care packages and other items for area marines.

So far, Lowery's group has sent more than 1,000 care packages overseas.


If you have information, call Crime Stoppers at (608) 266-6014.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Two local Marines answer the Item's questions
By Kurt Allen/Assistant Managing Editor



Josh Hill and Josh Lyons are two Marines who have served two tours in Iraq. Hill, a corporal whose mother works and lives in Walker County, is scheduled to attend sniper school January before heading back to Iraq for a third tour. Lyons, a Marine Corps first lieutenant whose father is publisher of The Huntsville Item, is back home at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The following is a question-and-answer session with these two Marines:

€ HI: How long did you serve in Iraq?

JL: January 2003 to August 2003, and the second time from February 2004 to September 2004.

JH: Seven and a half months. I arrived in country the first of March and got home the 17th of October.

€ HI: What surprised you the most about Iraq?

JL: The first time, we were told we would be treated as liberators, and we were. Then over there the second time, I was a little more surprised to see how divided certain areas of Iraq could be. ... For the second deployment, stuck in the triangle where the insurgency was running its most rampant course, people there didn't seem to like us as much as when we first arrived. Kind of the change in attitude, how we were perceived. Basically, no one was waving at us anymore.

JH: You can be briefed as much as you want, but for me, the first thing is watching my life flash before my eyes. It would be different for everybody. When bullets start cracking and you hear explosions and you see your brothers fall left and right, that overcomes every brief.

€ HI: What were some of the biggest cultural differences between the U.S. and Iraq?

JL: The biggest thing, the burden was the language barrier, just trying to explain through all your weapons and armor you really do come in peace. Everybody talks about the differences in religion, but I didn't really think that was something that caused trouble with us. I think it was more of them not understanding why we are there. Some U.S. soldiers didn't understand you had to take your sunglasses off when you talk to them. There are little things, like shaking hands (only with your right hand). And you never want to show them the bottom of your feet.

JH: The amount of living space. It's so intensely crowded. Their hygiene was so pathetic and poor. There were dead animal carcasses everywhere in the streets. No power. I don't see how people can actually live like that, but they do it, and they've been doing it for centuries. I've seen them jump in the Euphrates and guzzle the water. It's so nasty. I just couldn't believe people lived like that.

€ HI: Did you make friends with any Iraqis or foreign nationals?

JL: That happened our first time over there because we did a lot of work with traffic points. Basically, we were just really trying to befriend Iraqis. Many of them didn't have the news. ... When we were invited to some Iraqi's house, we had tea and talked and discussed things. Really, the one, I spoke of this before, that we befriended was an Egyptian doctor taken prisoner by Saddam and we liberated him. He stayed with us for five months and did translations. Dr. Mohammed. He spoke pretty good English and he educated us a lot on the culture and the Middle East.

JH: We had our translators. I got really close with two of them. They were Iraqis. They graduated from Baghdad College. The one I had with me a lot, you couldn't really tell him apart. He looked like a Californian. It's kind of like he was one of us. He hated Saddam, and he hated the problems of his own country. He wasn't even a Muslim. He was an atheist. Having one of them on our side made it a little easier knowing we weren't fighting everyone over there.

€ HI: What area of the U.S. does Iraq look like?

JL: I've tried to point that out before. Getting close to Yuma, Ariz., not including the mountains, some of the landscape looks like Kuwait or the open desert of Iraq. Getting into the actual towns, it's hard to find a place in the U.S. as underdeveloped. It's tough to make that comparison. When I went to some of the border towns in Mexico, I was somewhat reminded of Iraq. The climate seems to change. Sometimes you forget where you are. You see these beautiful palm groves and you think you're in Palm Beach.

JH: When we'd go to 29 Palms (Marine Corps base) for training in the desert.

€ HI: What was the hardest adjustment returning to the U.S.?

JL: I was just more relieved not to hear the guns going off and the mortars and rockets. Every time I'm on the road, I'm more focused. Here, you can relax and zone out, and you can't do that over there.

JH: The sound of peace. People just living their lives normally. It was really hard to get used to.

€ HI: What did you miss most while serving in Iraq?

JL: I've got to say my wife. Just basically everything about America. My wife and family. People could stay a lot longer over there if they had their family with them. ... Little things, especially for the second time. Like driving around in my car and listening to music and not worrying about a piece of debris that's going to blow up.

JH: I missed my friends that I lost the most. When we started I lost a couple of friends, and the freedom of America became more clear. There's thousands of us who served. Unless you're ... if you have bullets flying at you and see your friends go down, you're going to drop down. It breaks you down and you realize what you're doing and what the price of freedom really is. A lot of people don't really understand that.

Kurt Allen can be reached at (936) 295-5407 ext. 3024 or by e-mail at kallen@itemonline.com


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine follows his forebears
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By SARA A. CARTER
STAFF WRITER
The Daily Bulletin

Monday, December 27, 2004 - ONTARIO, Calif. - As a toddler, Kenneth M. Zebley was fascinated by airplanes and a grandfather he never met.

That's because his grandfather, a pilot in the Marine Corps Reserve, died in a training accident while flying over the California desert.

On Monday, at Bellevue Memorial Park, Kenneth Zebley was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps at the grave site of his favorite unknown hero.

"I love you, Kenneth," said Patricia Zebley Bowen, 80, as she pinned the bars on her grandson's dress blue uniform.

Kenneth Zebley, 25, an Ontario native who now lives in Daytona Beach, Fla., is preparing for Marine flight training school, which he will attend in April.

His grandmother then kissed him on the cheek, embracing him the same way she has always embraced her children and grandchildren who have given their lives to the armed services. It is a family affair.

"This has been a dream of mine since I could walk," Kenneth Zebley said as his father, Ronald Zebley, and his mother, Jan Zebley, reminisced about his childhood dreams of one day flying. "I've always wanted to serve my country and be a pilot. Now I can see them coming true but I owe it to my grandfather who was an example to us all."

The sky darkened, but rain did not fall on the third-generation Marine who stood, eyes forward, while his cousin, Michael Zebley, state department official and an ensign in the Naval Reserve, gave him his commission.

They smiled. The family mission was complete and another Zebley will take to the sky like his grandfather before him.

"His grandfather would be so proud of him," Bowen said.

Kenneth Zebley's first salute as an officer came from another cousin, Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew Hegbloom, 25.

Kenneth Zebley reached into his pocket, pulled out a silver dollar and placed it in his cousin's hand - a Marine tradition.

Traditions are strong in this military family. Both of Kenneth Zebley's uncles fought in Vietnam and his grandfather was a veteran of World War II. Four of his cousins are now serving as officers and enlisted men in the various armed forces.

Many of the Zebley men walk in their grandfather's shoes, Bowen said.

"I guarantee (my grandfather) helped me along the way and I believe that," Kenneth Zebley said. "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the stories I've heard about him. He had more of an impact in my life passed away than any grandfather alive could have."

When Kenneth Zebley was young, his grandmother and father would tell him stories about his grandfather's bravery, he said.

"(My grandfather's) stories always inspired me to be something better," Kenneth Zebley said. His girlfriend, Melissa Berbeek, a hockey player and school teacher from Ontario, Canada, flew in for his commission and she was inspired by his family's love and dedication.

Franklin Zebley would have been a major league baseball player had it not been for World War II, Kenneth Zebley said. Zebley played for a farm team of the Philadelphia Athletics when he was 19 years old and was being looked at by some of the major teams when World War II broke out. Franklin Zebley enlisted in the Marine Corps infantry division without hesitation, Kenneth Zebley said.

"He was a good man," he said. "He was a fair man. He is someone I aspire to be and he died doing what he loved most. Nobody forced him to join the Marines. He did it for his country, giving up a future in baseball, and you don't see that type of dedication in our world today."

Franklin Zebley was killed when his F9F-6 Cougar jet crashed and burned into the Tehachapi Mountains, near the Mojave desert. Zebley's aircraft experienced engine problems. The then 34-year-old reservist pilot tried to parachute out and lost his life in the attempt, his son Ronald Zebley said.

"I was only 5 years old at the time," he added. "It makes me very proud and proud that my family was able to serve the country. There is a price to pay for our freedom."

The Zebley family understands the great risks many in their family have taken to defend the country.

And by the grave site, listening to the stories of ghosts long gone, the Zebley family places their faith in each other and their country.

"I can't help but worry about my son," Jan Zebley said. "I watch the news and see all the children who have lost their lives in the war. But I support our troops and I support his decision to defend our country. I guess all we have left is to pray that things will turn out all right."


Ellie