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Saturday, May 31, 2008
DVIDS News - 05-31-2008
(05.31.2008) Iraqi army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers conducted a recruitment drive for the Neighborhood Guard program in Thawra 1 neighborhood of Baghdad May 30.
Courtesy Story
Regulars Tour Jamilla Market, Talk to Owners Ab...
(05.31.2008) Nearly two months of fighting spurred by criminal and special groups elements in Sadr City left one of Baghdad’s largest market areas in disarray, but recent calm has shops open again and Multi-National Division ...
Story by Maj. Michael Humphreys
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Medical Team Inspects Remote Health Clinic
(05.31.2008) Appearances can be deceiving. The Jegdalak medical health center, standing alone atop a rock-strewn hill overlooking Jegdalak, looks nothing like a medical facility. The clinic, however, serves a remote region of...
Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Douglas Mappin
5 images
All Give Some; Some Give More
(05.31.2008) Standing nearly 6-feet-tall, with blond hair and a chiseled jaw, Cpl. Nathan Lewis literally stands out among his peers.
Courtesy Story
1 images
Uniform, Standards, Discipline: Raider Brigade...
(05.31.2008) Deployed for a 15-month tour in support of Multi-National Division – Baghdad and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the senior command sergeant major of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, is interested in ...
Story by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
2 images
Ironhorse Idol Competition Brings Out Unseen Ta...
(05.31.2008) “American Idol” is the hit TV show where people from all over the United States showcase their singing abilities in a competition for fame and to be known as The American Idol. Although far from Hollywood, Multi-...
Courtesy Story
4 images
Gates: U.S. Hopes for More Openness, Transparen...
(05.31.2008) Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates expressed hope today that ongoing discussions between the United States and China will lead to greater openness and transparency about China's military intentions and capabilities.
Story by Donna Miles
Gates Calls Getting 'End Game' Right in Iraq Cr...
(05.31.2008) With progress being made in Iraq, the United States must focus on getting the "end game" right, while being patient enough to refrain from making "a tactical decision that has strategic consequences," Defense Sec...
Story by Donna Miles
Friday, May 30, 2008
DVIDS News - 05-30-2008
(05.30.2008) With 57 years of service to the Department of Defense on Okinawa under her belt, Sadie Roldan, who most recently served as the division secretary with Marine Corps Bases Japan Facilities Engineers for more than 2...
Story by Lance Cpl. Corey Blodgett
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Going the Distance on Okinawa: III MEF Command ...
(05.30.2008) To raise awareness for organizations that support wounded veterans, the III Marine Expeditionary Force command master chief, Master Chief Petty Officer Mark Busam, ran from Gate 1 of Kadena Air Base to the Okuma ...
Story by Lance Cpl. Corey Blodgett
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CTF 150 Helps Ensure a Lawful Maritime Order Fr...
(05.30.2008) Some of the world's most heavily travelled waters are in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden. Combined Task Force 150, a multi-national coalition task force, is conducting operations in these busy and sometimes dan...
Courtesy Story
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Weekly Shuras Bring Progress to Afghan Valley
(05.30.2008) Soldiers from Able Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, welcome local Afghan village elders from the Pech river valley onto Forward Operating Base Able Main every Thursday morning to conduct a weekly ...
Story by Spc. Gregory Argentieri
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ANA, Sky Soldiers Launch Op. Rock Penetrator
(05.30.2008) Afghan national army soldiers and paratroopers from Able Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment air assaulted into the Narang Valley on the evening of, May 16, for a scheduled 24-hour mission in Kunar pr...
Story by Spc. Gregory Argentieri
4 images
Gates Honors 66-Year Federal Employee at Retire...
(05.30.2008) Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates paid tribute to a legendary figure here who was retiring from the federal government with 66 years of service.
Story by Donna Miles
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Service Members Compete in Iron Chef Competition
(05.30.2008) “There is no love truer than the love of food,” said Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. That love of food, both preparing and serving, coupled with a dose of friendly competition led to the first-ever Iron Che...
Courtesy Story
5 images
Operation Longest Mile: ANSF, Able Co. Show Fle...
(05.30.2008) Service members from the Afghan national army, Afghan national policemen and Able Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment air assaulted into the Watapoor valley under the cover of darkness, May 10, to sta...
Story by Spc. Gregory Argentieri
5 images
Engineer’s Transfer Authority
(05.30.2008) Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 111th Engineer Brigade relinquished command of the engineering portion of Task Force Iron, Multi-National Division-North, to Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 18th Engineer B...
Story by Spc. Cynthia Teears
5 images
Volunteer Operation Helps Afghan Youth
(05.30.2008) Service members here show they care for the future of a free and democratic Afghanistan and a peaceful, nurturing environment for Afghan children by distributing donated items to local youth.
Story by Pvt. Tamara Gabbard
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Mullen Cites Value of Hotline, Military Contact...
(05.30.2008) In the wake of the first operational use of a new hotline linking U.S. and Chinese military leaders, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today he hopes military-to-military ties between the countries ...
Story by Jim Garamone
Squad PT Competition Focuses on Warrior Skills
(05.30.2008) “A little friendly competition to kind of bring out their competitive spirit,” is how Capt. Brendan Gallagher, the commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry...
Story by Spc. Robert Yde
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USCG Headquarters NewsBreak - 05-30-2008
* SoCal's 'Smuggler's Corridor' Is Getting Crowded
* US seizes 1500 pounds of cocaine near Puerto Rico
CBP Air and Marine Instrumental in Seizures of $80 Million Worth ...
Drug smugglers caught, Miss. Coast
* Charge against Coast Guard officer tossed
* Anti-Terrorism Coast Guard Unit Pays Close Attention to Comings ...
* Report: ABC Reality Show Will Chronicle Work of Border Agents
all 14 news articles »
* New PA copters will carry guns
* Man, 42, missing after falling into Lake Erie
* DHS financial systems project concerns IG
* New communication system comes of age
* Officials still hunting source of fuel leak into river
* Court orders evaluation in ship sinking trial
* Ferry returns to service after fire
* 'Operation Clean Bay' Aims To End Vessel Abandonment
Useful sites:
* Coast Guard Visual Imagery Database, your link to Coast Guard video, photos, art, graphics and audio: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php
* Coast Guard video available at - http://www.youtube.com/uscgimagery
* Proceedings: http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/archive/index.asp
* Coast Guard Magazine: http://www.uscg.mil/magazine/
* The Reservist: http://www.uscg.mil/reservist/
* Seapower Magazine: http://www.navyleague.org/sea_power/
* Coast Guard News Channel: http://www.coastguardchannel.com/index.shtml
* Navy Times: http://www.navytimes.com/
* The DoD "Early Bird" news clips are accessible to .mil email addressees, at http://ebird.afis.mil/
* Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety: www.USCGboating.org
* CG Auxiliary's official e-magazine "SITREP": http://www.teamcoastguard.org
* Maritime Safety: http://homeport.uscg.mil
* Chief Warrant Officer Association: www.cwoauscg.org
* Chief Petty Officer Association: http://www.uscgcpoa.org/
*
* COAST GUARD FLAG VOICES: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-w/flagvoice/list.htm
* THE LEADERSHIP NEWS: http://www.uscg.mil/leadership/newshome.htm
* The Foundation for Coast Guard History: www.fcgh.org/
* The Coast Guard Foundation: http://www.cgfdn.org/
_______________________________________________________
Copyright law prohibits further reproduction of this document outside the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation. This publication is prepared by the Coast Guard Public Affairs staff to apprise personnel of emerging policy issues as they appear in the news media. We attempt to use articles covering subject matter of broad interest to the widest Coast Guard audience possible, and are not able to include all regional articles that may surface. Questions, concerns and comments about the Headquarters NewsBreak should be directed to PA1 David Mosley at 202-372-4613 or David.B.Mosley@uscg.mil.
You can now view HQ NewsBreak at: http://cgls.uscg.mil/pipermail/coast_guard_e-newsletter/.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
DVIDS News - 05-29-2008
(05.29.2008) A Japanese member of the Boys Scouts of America recently spearheaded a group effort with several Americans here to spruce up the gravesite memorial of the commander of Allied forces during the Battle of Okinawa.
Story by Lance Cpl. Joseph Cabrera
Conference Brings Key Iraqi Energy Leaders Toge...
(05.29.2008) Northern Iraqi leaders came together for an energy conference at Contingency Operating Base Spiecher in the province of Salahuddin yesterday.
Courtesy Story
Soldiers Get First Look at MRAP
(05.29.2008) They’re big – they’re bad – and they’re new. The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicle is the Army’s newest improvised-explosive device defense counter measure for Soldiers conducting logistical patrols...
Courtesy Story
2 images
Mullen Uses Pacific Visits to Cultivate Underst...
(05.29.2008) The United States and other countries of the world have to work together to face the challenges of the future, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today on the first stop of a visit to Pacific nations ...
Story by Jim Garamone
VMA-513 Provide Unlikely and Vital Assistance i...
(05.29.2008) The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit had an immediate need to obtain passports as well as helicopter parts and supplies for possible humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts to support the victims of Cyc...
Courtesy Story
1 images
Army Medics Share Life-saving Concepts in Qatar
(05.29.2008) U.S. Army medics completed the first combat lifesaver seminar in Qatar on May 29, as part of a U.S. military information exchange program offered to allied forces in the Middle East. Thirty participants from the ...
Story by Dustin Senger
7 images
America Supports You: Troop-Support Group Added...
(05.29.2008) After stringent review by one of the country's premier charity watchdogs, a Massachusetts-based troop-support group has been added to a list of top-rated charities. Courtesy Story
Iowa National Guard Troops Support Tornado-Reli...
(05.29.2008) About 175 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen are serving on state active duty in support of tornado-relief and -recovery missions for northeastern Iowa.
Courtesy Story
Gates Begins Asia Swing Focusing on Regional Se...
(05.28.2008) Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today kicked off a six-day swing through the Western Pacific that includes a keynote address at the 7th annual International Institute of Strategic Studies' Asia Security Summit ...
Story by Donna Miles
Face of Defense: Soldier Helps Iraqis Take Charge
(05.28.2008) U.S. soldiers working together with their Iraqi counterparts is an important step toward Iraqis taking charge of their nation.
Courtesy Story
3 images
VMA-513 Provide Unlikely and Vital Assistance i...
(05.28.2008) The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) had an immediate need to obtain passports as well as helicopter parts and supplies for possible humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts to support the victims ...
Courtesy Story
1 images
Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers Aid Lo...
(05.28.2008) Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers provided micro-grants to local shop owners in the Sadr City district of Baghdad to rebuild and expand their businesses as coalition forces continue to expand humanitaria...
Courtesy Story
2 images
Iraqi Businesses Display Wares at Expo
(05.28.2008) More than 70 Iraqi business owners gathered in the Babylon hotel on the Karadah Peninsula in southeastern Baghdad for the inaugural Rebuilding - Karadah Expo and Conference, May 23-24.
Story by Sgt. Jeremy Todd
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The First Leg: Bastogne Brigade Sets Conditions...
(05.28.2008) Since arriving in Iraq in September, 2007, Soldiers from the Bastogne Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, have been tasked to set the table for Iraqi success in the Salah ad Din province.
Story by Spc. Richard Rzepka
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Married Army Couples Take Part in Rare Reenlist...
(05.28.2008) For proof that the Army can be a family affair, one need look no further than the Daly family. They are a married couple in Multi-National Division – Baghdad’s Task Force XII who reenlisted in a double ceremony. ...
Courtesy Story
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Group Offers Free Psychiatric Care to War Vets
WASHINGTON -- A coalition of mental health groups announced plans Monday to establish a nationwide network of psychiatrists, psychologists and other experts to provide free counseling to combat veterans and their families.
"Citizen soldiers have had extended, long deployments, and that has created a difficult situation for them and for their families," said Dr. Richard Harding, president of the American Psychiatric Foundation. "Those people need help … and we have a duty to take care of them."
The groups’ goal is to enlist about 40,000 mental health professionals -- about 10 percent of the nationwide force -- to donate time and services to individual veterans, their families, or veterans groups.
Learn more at Military.com's PTSD Center
The resources would be in addition to services already provided by the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs agencies, especially in areas with long wait times or long travel distances for servicemembers to easily take advantage of those official medical treatment options.
Dr. Barbara Romberg, president of the Give an Hour Foundation, said more than 1.6 million servicemembers have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan over the last seven years, and studies show at least 20 percent have battled with anxiety, depression and serious stress disorders since their return.
Those figures don’t include family members, who can also suffer mental health issues when their loved ones are sent to war.
"But there is reason for hope and optimism," she said. "We know so much more today about mental health in general and about conditions like PTSD. We know that post-traumatic stress disorder doesn’t need to turn into a chronic illness."
Her group currently has about 1,200 licensed professionals donating an hour a week to counsel servicemembers and their families.
The Eli Lilly foundation donated $1 million to the effort at the event. Project officials said the funds will be used for public awareness and servicemember outreach programs, as well as recruiting more counselors throughout the country.
To find a counselor in your area, or to volunteer services to the mental health counseling project, visit www.giveanhour.org.
USCG Headquarters NewsBreak - 05-29-2008
* 3 new Coast Guard copters at Port Angeles
* Coast Guard auxiliary on alert after sailboat gets stuck in river
* 3 rescued from disabled boat on Lake Michigan
* Miami man sentenced on charges of smuggling Cuban refugees
* Dina Dee customer airlifted to hospital after scuba diving accident
* Copter commander awarded medal for Alaskan rescue
* Frontline fans: Military members are losing sleep over Wings' run
* Funding is dwindling for two weather buoys
* Plan for Offshore Gas Port Stirs Fear in Broward
* Deported Jamaicans found in middle of Miami River
* The Pentagon Channel covers the Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma's Fire Department as they respond to wildfires in the
CGVI: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=287043
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ8QPYyXP3g
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Useful sites:
* Coast Guard Visual Imagery Database, your link to Coast Guard video, photos, art, graphics and audio: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php
* Coast Guard video available at - http://www.youtube.com/uscgimagery
* Proceedings: http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/archive/index.asp
* Coast Guard Magazine: http://www.uscg.mil/magazine/
* The Reservist: http://www.uscg.mil/reservist/
* Seapower Magazine: http://www.navyleague.org/sea_power/
* Coast Guard News Channel: http://www.coastguardchannel.com/index.shtml
* Navy Times: http://www.navytimes.com/
* The DoD "Early Bird" news clips are accessible to .mil email addressees, at http://ebird.afis.mil/
* Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety: www.USCGboating.org
* CG Auxiliary's official e-magazine "SITREP": http://www.teamcoastguard.org
* Maritime Safety: http://homeport.uscg.mil
* Chief Warrant Officer Association: www.cwoauscg.org
* Chief Petty Officer Association: http://www.uscgcpoa.org/
*
* COAST GUARD FLAG VOICES: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-w/flagvoice/list.htm
* THE LEADERSHIP NEWS: http://www.uscg.mil/leadership/newshome.htm
* The Foundation for Coast Guard History: www.fcgh.org/
* The Coast Guard Foundation: http://www.cgfdn.org/
_______________________________________________________
Copyright law prohibits further reproduction of this document outside the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation. This publication is prepared by the Coast Guard Public Affairs staff to apprise personnel of emerging policy issues as they appear in the news media. We attempt to use articles covering subject matter of broad interest to the widest Coast Guard audience possible, and are not able to include all regional articles that may surface. Questions, concerns and comments about the Headquarters NewsBreak should be directed to PA1 David Mosley at 202-372-4613 or David.B.Mosley@uscg.mil.
You can now view HQ NewsBreak at: http://cgls.uscg.mil/pipermail/coast_guard_e-newsletter/.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
USCG Headquarters NewsBreak - 05-28-2007
* Coast Guard pauses review, refund pursuit of Lockheed, Northrop ...
International Herald Tribune, France
CG patrol boat talks paused for DOJ probe
NavyTimes.com, VA
Coast Guard halts review of faulty boats
Reuters
* CG: Work on Bertholf proceeding apace
NavyTimes.com, VA
* COAST GUARD OPENS NEW ROGUE STATION
Curry Coastal Pilot, OR
* A NATION CHALLENGED: CARGO; Port of Entry Now Means Point of Anxiety
New York Times
* CG Honors Fallen Shipmates
Military.com
* Fishing Crew Rescued By Coast Guard
* Coast Guard Rescues 2 Near Cape Henlopen
WBOC TV 16, MD
* First National Security Cutter Delivered to Coast Guard
Family Security Matters, NJ
* Coast Guard rescues 6 over holiday weekend
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ
* Coast Guard duty often unmooring for families
The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com, OH
* Boaters Rescued Off Coast Of Delaware
CBS 3, PA
* Boat operator allegedly intoxicated
Portsmouth Herald News, NH
* FISHING TRIP GONE AWRY
* Brit sets off again to row solo across Pacific
CNET News.com, CA
* Dive boat finds bodies mauled by sharks
* IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED
Curry Coastal Pilot, OR
* Engine fire sidelines state ferry in Ketchikan
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK
* Exotic shellfish muscles into state
Union Democrat, CA
* Canada awards Arctic patrol craft contract
Marine Log, NY
* Gerard Yoest; World Affairs Director At Coast Guard Wrote ...
* SAN MATEO CO.: HELICOPTER SEARCHES WATER AFTER AUTOMATED SOS ... <http://cbs5.com/localwire/22.0.html?type=bcn&item=SOS-SIGNAL>
CBS 5, CA - May 24, 2008
*
Navy Compass, CA - May 23, 2008
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Useful sites:
* Coast Guard Visual Imagery Database, your link to Coast Guard video, photos, art, graphics and audio: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php
* Coast Guard video available at - http://www.youtube.com/uscgimagery*
* Proceedings: http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/archive/index.asp
* Coast Guard Magazine: http://www.uscg.mil/magazine/
* The Reservist: http://www.uscg.mil/reservist/
* Seapower Magazine: http://www.navyleague.org/sea_power/
* Coast Guard News Channel: http://www.coastguardchannel.com/index.shtml
* Navy Times: http://www.navytimes.com/
* The DoD "Early Bird" news clips are accessible to .mil email addressees, at http://ebird.afis.mil/
* Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety: www.USCGboating.org
* CG Auxiliary's official e-magazine "SITREP": http://www.teamcoastguard.org
* Maritime Safety: http://homeport.uscg.mil
* Chief Warrant Officer Association: www.cwoauscg.org
* Chief Petty Officer Association: http://www.uscgcpoa.org/
*
* COAST GUARD FLAG VOICES: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-w/flagvoice/list.htm
* THE LEADERSHIP NEWS: http://www.uscg.mil/leadership/newshome.htm
* The Foundation for Coast Guard History: www.fcgh.org/
* The Coast Guard Foundation: http://www.cgfdn.org/
_______________________________________________________
Copyright law prohibits further reproduction of this document outside the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation. This publication is prepared by the Coast Guard Public Affairs staff to apprise personnel of emerging policy issues as they appear in the news media. We attempt to use articles covering subject matter of broad interest to the widest Coast Guard audience possible, and are not able to include all regional articles that may surface. Questions, concerns and comments about the Headquarters NewsBreak should be directed to PA1 David Mosley at 202-372-4613 or David.B.Mosley@uscg.mil.
You can now view HQ NewsBreak at: http://cgls.uscg.mil/pipermail/coast_guard_e-newsletter/.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
USCG Headquarters NewsBreak - 05-27-2008
* For Crews, Ice Patrol Duty Is Often A Waiting Game
'Another Titanic Can Always Happen'
* US Coast Guard searching for missing boater off Bahamas
* US Coast Guard opens Waukegan, Ill seasonal air facility
* Coast Guard opens summer rescue stations
* Coast Guard rescues woman after scuba dive
* Coast Guard: 2 people rescued from capsized clammer off NJ's Cape May
* Maine firm in running for Coast Guard work
* US Coast Guard' Air Station Atlantic City is ready for anything
* Westhampton woman evacuated from Bermuda cruise ship
* Coast Guard Prevents Tragedy Near Inagua
* A day in the life of America's last lighthouse keeper
* 78-year-old man on life raft rescued after fishing boat sinks
* Coast Guard rescues 4 who fell from boat
* Coast Guard hoists injured crewman 300 miles from Nantucket
* Coast Guard airlifts man from San Jacinto River
* Two charged with smuggling Cuban rum, cigars into Southwest Florida
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Useful sites:
* Coast Guard Visual Imagery Database, your link to Coast Guard video, photos, art, graphics and audio: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php
* Coast Guard video available at - http://www.youtube.com/uscgimagery
* Proceedings: http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/archive/index.asp
* Coast Guard Magazine: http://www.uscg.mil/magazine/
* The Reservist: http://www.uscg.mil/reservist/
* Seapower Magazine: http://www.navyleague.org/sea_power/
* Coast Guard News Channel: http://www.coastguardchannel.com/index.shtml
* Navy Times: http://www.navytimes.com/
* The DoD "Early Bird" news clips are accessible to .mil email addressees, at http://ebird.afis.mil/
* Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety: www.USCGboating.org
* CG Auxiliary's official e-magazine "SITREP": http://www.teamcoastguard.org
* Maritime Safety: http://homeport.uscg.mil
* Chief Warrant Officer Association: www.cwoauscg.org
* Chief Petty Officer Association: http://www.uscgcpoa.org/
*
* COAST GUARD FLAG VOICES: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-w/flagvoice/list.htm
* THE LEADERSHIP NEWS: http://www.uscg.mil/leadership/newshome.htm
* The Foundation for Coast Guard History: www.fcgh.org/
* The Coast Guard Foundation: http://www.cgfdn.org/
_______________________________________________________
Copyright law prohibits further reproduction of this document outside the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation. This publication is prepared by the Coast Guard Public Affairs staff to apprise personnel of emerging policy issues as they appear in the news media. We attempt to use articles covering subject matter of broad interest to the widest Coast Guard audience possible, and are not able to include all regional articles that may surface. Questions, concerns and comments about the Headquarters NewsBreak should be directed to PA1 David Mosley at 202-372-4613 or David.B.Mosley@uscg.mil.
You can now view HQ NewsBreak at: http://cgls.uscg.mil/pipermail/coast_guard_e-newsletter/.
Monday, May 26, 2008
MEMORIAL DAY 26 MAY 2008
FALLUJAH, IRAQ
First, a few statistics to ponder. There are twenty-five million living American veterans. Since General George Washington commanded the Continental Army forty-two million Americans have served the colors. A million have been killed in its defense. Another million and a half wounded. When most of us think about military cemeteries the first thought that comes to mind is Arlington National in Washington, but there are many, many more in the U.S. Most Americans also don’t know there are 24 American cemeteries maintained overseas with 125,000 graves of our fallen—61,000 in France alone—the result of two wars that saved Europe and the world from horrors unimaginable to Americans today; unimaginable, that is, unless you are a veteran who have seen the terrible face of war so those who remained safe in America, and those yet unborn, would never have to. There are also memorials overseas to an additional 94,000 Americans who were lost at sea, or their remains never recovered from battlefields around the globe. With all this service and loss, we as Americans can be proud of the kind of people we are as we have never retained a square foot of any country we have defeated, we possess no empire, nor have we enslaved a single human being. On the contrary, billions across the planet are today—and billions yet unborn—live free because our veterans have fought and died, and, once peace achieved, we’ve rebuilt destroyed cities, economies, and societies.
Memorial Day was established three years after our terrible Civil War that finally established what kind of nation we would be. A war in which 600,000 young Americans—North and South—perished. For a century the day continued to mean visiting and decorating graves or town-square memorials to those who died serving our great nation, and celebrating with parades and civic events. Americans kept the day quiet pausing to remember, at least for a little while, the kind of men and women they were who gave the last full measure, and the immensity of the sacrifice they made for those who remained protected at home.
Americans should not forget this weekend or any weekend as they relax with a few days off that the country is at war, and a new Greatest Generation is fighting a merciless enemy on their behalf in the terrible heat of Iraq, and in the mountains of Afghanistan. Like it or not America is engaged in a war today against an enemy that is savage, offers no quarter, whose only objectives are to either kill every one of our families in our homeland, or enslave us with a sick form of extremism that serves no God or purpose that rational men and women can understand. Given the opportunity to do another 9/11, our vicious enemy would do it today, tomorrow and everyday thereafter. I don’t know why they hate us, and I frankly don’t care and they can all go to hell, but they do hate us and are driven irrationally to our destruction. The best way to fight them is somewhere else and that is why we are here. For whatever reason they want to destroy our way of life our countrymen at home should be on their knees everyday thanking God we still have enough young people in America today willing to take up the fight as our Veterans did from the earliest days of our nation.
They should know that they are protected today by men and women as good as have ever served; as good today as their fathers were in Vietnam, and their grandfathers were in Korea and World War II. In this my third tour in Iraq I have never seen an American hesitate, or do anything other than lean into the danger and, with no apparent fear of death or injury, take the fight to the enemies of our way of life. As anyone who has ever experienced combat knows, and many of you do, when it starts, when the explosions and tracers are everywhere and the calls for the Corpsman or medic are screamed from the throats of men who know they are dying—when seconds seem like hours and it all becomes slow motion and fast forward at the same time—everything in one’s survival instinct says stop, get down, save yourself —yet you don’t. When no one would call you coward for cowering behind a wall or in a hole looking to your own self preservation, none of you do. It doesn’t matter if it’s an IED, a suicide bomber, mortar attack, fighting in the upstairs room of a house, or all of it at once—America should know you fight today in the same way our warriors have since the Revolution.
The wonderful thing about America’s Armed Forces is that none of us are born killers. On the contrary we are good and decent Americans mostly from the neighborhoods of America’s cities, and small towns. Almost all come from “salt of the earth” working class homes, and more often than not are the sons and daughters of cops and firemen, factory and service workers, and farmers. Most of us delivered papers, stocked shelves in the grocery store, played Little League baseball and pickup hockey in the local rink, and served Mass on Sunday morning. Some are former athletes, and many “couch potatoes” who drove our cars and motorcycles too fast, and blasted our music louder than perhaps we should have. We are all ordinary people performing remarkable acts of bravery and selfless acts of devotion to a cause bigger than ourselves—and for millions who will never know our names. Any one of us could have all stayed in school or gone another way, but yet we chose to serve knowing full well Iraq and Afghanistan was in our future. You did not avoid the most basic and cherished responsibility of a citizen—to defend the nation and its people—on the contrary, you went after it. You did not fail in life which the chattering class back home likes to believe is why you chose to serve and risk dying for the nation, but, rather, are the best our nation produces and have consciously put every American at home above your own self interest. You are all heroes and like many Veterans throughout our history many of us have endured things—sights, sounds and horrors—that will haunt us for the rest of our lives. I know I find comfort that because I am here those I love and have sworn to protect will never have to deal with memories so terrible. I hope you who have seen these things have the same sense of purpose and balance when you relive the scenes of violence, and of decisions made.
America’s Armed Forces today know the price of being the finest men and women this nation has to offer, and pay it we do everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than four thousand of us have died in this war, and ten-times this number have been wounded. And the sacrifice continues as three Americans have gone to God since we all went to bed last night and slept free and protected. Their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, wives, husbands, and fiancés are sitting in their living rooms right now with casualty officers learning the true price of freedom, and are only just beginning a lifelong struggle of dealing with the pain and loss of someone so dear, but they are not victims as they knew what they were about and were doing what they wanted to do. Many of today’s self-proclaimed experts and media commentators endeavor to make them out to be victims but they are wrong, and this only detracts from the decision these patriots made to step forward and protect the country that has given so much to all of us. We who are serving, and have served, demand not to be categorized as victims—we are not. Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when strong and committed men and women stand tall and firm against our enemies, just as they can’t begin to understand the price paid so they and their families can sleep safe and free at night—the protected never do. What the experts, commentators, and elites are missing, what they will also never understand, is the sense of commitment, joy, and honor, of serving the nation in its uniform, but every American Veteran, and their loved ones who support them and fear for them everyday, do understand.
We should all be confident that this experiment in democracy we call America will forever remain the “land of the free and home of the brave” so long as we never run out of tough young Americans willing to look beyond their own self interest and comfortable lives, and go into the darkest and most dangerous places on earth to hunt down, and kill, those who would do us harm.
In closing I wanted to share a story that you may not be aware of that took place only a few miles from here in Ramadi. On 22 April 2nd Battalion 8th Marines and 1st Battalion, 9th Marines were in the process of turning over a Joint Security Station Nasser. It’s in the Sophia district of Ramadi, and was once the center of the insurgency in that city. Two Marines who barely knew each other as one was coming and the other going were standing guard at the Entry Control Point (ECP): their names were Jonathan Yale and Jordan Haerter. At 0745, and without warning, a large truck accelerated towards the ECP careening off the protective serpentine. Both must have understood on instinct what was happening as in less then a second they went to the guns and opened fire until the massive 2,000lb blast took their lives—but the suicide bomber never passed the post they protected, and 50 other Marines and perhaps as many police didn’t die that day inside the JSS. I spoke to several Iraqi police eyewitness and they all told the same story, but one more emotionally than the others. He said no sane man would have stood there directly in the path of a speeding truck firing their weapons—yet two did. His officers, some as close as ten feet initially from the Marines, fired and ran when it was obvious the truck could not be stopped—and they survived. The Marines stood their ground and stopped the truck before it detonated, and saved the lives of their buddies.
A sacred duty of every commander in combat, yet the one we dread the most, is writing letters home to families who have lost a son or a daughter. I wanted to close by reading you a letter I wrote that night to the mother of one of those two heroes that for me sums up who and what we are as warriors and veterans, why we serve, and how we will remember each other.
___________________________________________________________
22 April 2008
I know there is nothing I can write tonight that will help you deal with the loss of your son Jonathan. I do hope you can find some comfort as I try to help you understand what he was doing for every American when he was taken from us all. He was standing watch on a nameless side street in Ramadi at the entrance of a compound that housed a large number of Marines, Iraqi Police, and civilians. In the early morning a truck turned down towards the entrance and ignored the visual warnings he gave to stop. Jonathan and the Marine he was with must have sensed immediately what was taking place as they went to the guns quickly and fired a very high volume of automatic weapons fire undoubtedly killing the suicide driver, but not before he detonated the massive blast that took their lives. His fellow Marines did what Marines have done from the beginning of our history, something they do almost without thinking and always without hesitation—they risked their own lives to save his, but he was already gone to God. Mrs. Pride because of your son and that other Marine nearly fifty other American families are not mourning tonight; their son’s lives were saved by two Marines who would not abandon their post even to the point of death.
I did not know your son Mrs. Pride, but I am sure he was just like every Marine I have known in the three decades and more that I have served. Like my own two sons who are Marines and have served here in this war, I bet he was a good looking young man, fun loving, into sports and a good son—but not perfect—boys never are. He was also different Mrs. Pride, because he chose to leave the comfortable and safe confines of his home and walk a different path than all the rest. The path he chose led him to be one of the nations finest, to be a Marine. When he did not have to raise his right hand and swear before his God to serve and protect this nation and its people, he did just that. We all owe him an eternal debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. We also owe you, Tammy, and all who loved him a debt—one that can never be settled.
I have 25,000 Marines under my care here in Iraq, and I fear for their lives every minute of every day as if they were my own. They are out there everyday and every night patrolling the most dangerous places on earth for millions of people at home they do not even know. In times of weakness I wonder why they come, young men like Jonathan, why they come when no one makes them. When everything in our society seems to say “what’s in it for me,” those like your son think of others—not themselves. I did not know your son Mrs. Pride, but I will never forget him. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers for the rest of my life.
With deepest sympathy,
JOHN F. KELLY
Major General, U.S. Marine Corps
Commanding General
I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward)
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