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More Soon... |
| Updated: Nov. 9, 2008 |
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| P.T. Brent http://hawaiireporter.com/list.aspx?s=tim+monaghan A K A P.T. Brent |
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| From Iwo Jima 60th link http://hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?46990e4f-17ff-4f8d-a757-93105036ff5a |
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And ... NOW the far away stories ....
From ... overseas
correspondent work in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa .... A
compendium of pictures and articles from several papers to follow: (save
for when you have a rainy day) Three wars, one funeral and a wedding....
(save for
when you have some time.) The
price of a ticket Honolulu to Bahrain. $1900 The
price of a sea bag and 782 gear, $729. The price for serving as a correspondent
with Marines in Operation Iraqi Freedom, priceless... |
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| Well , quite a journey including
spending five weeks in three Marine AORs, returning
to Chicago for my Mom's service and grave side prayers,
and going to Eagle River Wisconsin to attend the wedding of P.T. Schmidt
(Patrick Timothy Schmidt). Then, visit Laura, Marines in Southern California
and home to Hawaii. It had been sometime since PTB got to travel and witness
our Marines in action, all of a sudden there were visceral and dramatic
moments where in a private way I felt like I was a Marine again. .... but...
then again, I suppose, I always have been a Marine. A modicum of R & R
in Italia and tim ewith Polo friends in England helped PTB catch up on
laundry and life with civilian amenities. The big PX¯
as the military call it ... The last article T R I P
L E Z E R O O N E is PT's favorite |
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My thoughts on Operation Iraqi Freedom; One recurring
thought, that may be worthy of consideration is to have a theme that
bifurcates the politics from the military...?? Put aside the problems
some have with the administration and focus solely on the young people
serving overseas. Some people believe we went into Iraq for the wrong
reasons. They may have a few points ... but the war was a noble undertaking
if just to rid the world of a Hitler Class tyrant. People should separate
the politics from these fine Americans serving "over there." We
ended one of the world's most dangerous regimes. Their violence and sheer
malice were at Hitlersque levels. They killed thousands of their own
people. They may have been a threat to civilization. And now ... many
wish to second guess our actions with American forces at risk .... patriotism
too often takes back seat to politics. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Acs2bJq1cNFEdk
The
above link is a collective of 200 plus pictures from the trip.
Below are a few links and the articles from the trip. |
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Below are a few links and the articles from the trip.
Star Bulletin links may be better as you get to see the
pictures, too. |
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Sunday, April 25, 2004
THE WAR IN IRAQ
P.T.
Brent, former Marine and the Star-Bulletin's Mideast correspondent, talked
with Brig. Gen. Jerry McAbee, deputy commanding general of Marine Forces
Pacific and commanding general of Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe,
in an exclusive interview while traveling with Marines in Afghanistan,
Qatar and Bahrain.
By P.T. Brent Star-Bulletin Mideast correspondent
SOMEWHERE IN AFGHANISTAN
"For those who have fought for it, life
has a special flavor the protected will never know."
Those few words,
written by an anonymous Marine and taken from a combat ration box in Vietnam,
express the motivation of the Marines in Afghanistan who are fighting a
global war on terrorism. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is comprised of
a fleet of Navy ships, aircraft and a battalion of more than 1,000 Marines.
The general's duties take him from his home at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base
to Afghanistan, Iraq and the network of countries that supply America with
resources to the war effort. He carries his own gear, lines up last for
chow and makes sure all his troops are taken care of before accepting something
for himself. He is well respected by his troops and shows a genuine empathy
for the young Americans about to shove off for war.
The McAbees are a proud
Marine family. The general's father served with the Corps in World War
II and Korea; his brother served in Vietnam. McAbee served with Gen. Norman
Schwarzkopf during Desert Storm. McAbee says simply: "What better
honor than to wear the uniform of the U.S. Marines for 35 years?"
Star-Bulletin:
How are we training the Iraqis to fend for themselves?
Brig. Gen. McAbee:
The new Iraqi army is established; so is the Iraqi civil defense and the
Iraqi police, all carefully selected postwar. They appear to have taken
the mission seriously, and many have died fighting these extremists.
S-B:
What is your forecast for Iraq during the next five years?
McAbee: "Iraq
is a rich country. They have educated people and resources -- the second
largest supply of oil in the world, a fine infrastructure, good roads and
ample lakes, rivers and water for agriculture. All this represents a bright
future, based on us keeping our resolve to provide security for this country,
which is so rich in history and culture. Two of the original wonders of
the world are in Iraq."
S-B: Is the cost in lives and resources too high?
McAbee: "America's military has always fought outside America. They do
this to defend our way of life. (Fighting outside the U.S. during) World
War II was to prevent direct invasion. This global war (against terrorism)
is to keep our way of life for our grandchildren and future generations.
What we do here will define life in America for the next 50 years. Our
young Marines know this and our Corps pledged to accomplish these goals.
We must stamp out poverty, ignorance and hatred. We need to help them have
jobs, education and religious freedoms. Our Marines have sacrificed lives
and limbs to make sure we now stand over here and not on our shores. It
is a long investment. Americans well know that freedom is not free. Appeasing
these people who attack our way of life is a poor investment."
Churchill
once said, "An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile, hoping it
will eat him last"."
S-B: How are we doing in Iraq?
McAbee: "The vast
majority of Iraqi people just want the same thing we desire -- jobs, religious
freedom, to raise their families peacefully and to be happy. A few people
-- foreign mercenaries, thugs, people who hate democracy or in some cases
just hate Westerners -- hope to alter our resolve through terrorism. Most
them are just self-seeking opportunists who wish for coalition forces to
give up."
S-B: How is life today for Iraqis?
McAbee: "All resources that
serve the public are superior today to pre-war conditions: schools, hospitals,
irrigation systems, agriculture, natural gas and oil at a record of 2.5
million barrels per day ... "
S-B: What will be the ultimate outcome of
this war?
McAbee: "Our actions will define our American way of life for
the next 50 years. We must stay the course."
- P.T. Brent |
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The crew of an Air Force C-130 poses for a quick photograph
before taking off under heavy fire from the former Ballad Airfield in Iraq.
Our Texas Air Force and a few Hail Mary's...
Ground control
to a U.S. Air Force Hercules C-130: Sir, Condition Red -- the field is
under attack again. Advise taxi to bunker and evacuate the aircraft.
Captain: Request 14 Right for takeoff.
Tower: Alpha, bravo, delta and
foxtrot sectors all under fire.
Copilot: Sir, tracer rounds at delta
end of field.
Tower: Cannot comply, sir, unless you declare take-off
critical.
Captain: Runway 14 Right, now.
Tech Sergeant (in the hold with
36 passengers): Sir, rockets to rear of aircraft hitting.
Tower: Can
you lift off before intersection delta?
Captain: Affirmative your last.
Tower: I am going to get a lot of s^#* over this ...
Copilot: (Starts
reading a take-off checklist rapidly.)
Captain: Keep moving, Liz. (Pilot
holds brakes, then full power and a rapid climb to altitude.)
Crew chief:
Sir, two rockets over our tail section, flares deploying.
Captain: Tower
need to avoid search chopper in the area.
Tower: Chopper 17, stay below
two hundred feet.
Navigator: Have him at two o'clock.
Finally, a dramatic
lift-off under heavy fire at Balad Airfield, Iraq, with this correspondent
riveted to the cockpit jump seat. My headset is locked onto a gripping
real-life radio show. My helmet bag has a notebook and a pen light; my
hands are buried deep, noting the radio dialogue in the blacked-out cockpit.
And, as one Marine put it, I can say a Hail Mary in 2.9 seconds.
Departure
was from Balad, the giant airfield and once Saddam's pride. Now called
Anaconda by the U.S. Army, which uses it as an enormous supply and distribution
center for the Iraq theater. For better than two weeks it has been hit
by live fire, most of it highly inaccurate. Its convoys are returning
with KIAs and WIAs (killed and wounded in action).
The highways
belong to the Mahdi private army, which controls it with mortars, RPGs,
IED (improvised explosive devices) and small-arms fire.
The darkened
C-130 climbs to 29,000 feet with only covert upper lights showing. The
Hercules banks over the Tigris and Euphrates rivers on the edge of Baghdad
and heads south safely with Marines, soldiers and National Guardsmen
heading home after a year in Iraq via the Kuwait relocation base.
Capt.
Ed Schindler, on furlough from American Airlines in Dallas, and his Texas
National Guard crew have been in theater flying Marines and supplies
in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan for 13 months now. And what a crew
it is. Tom Clancy could not have created a more competent and take-charge
group of aviators. Lockheed-Martin builds these Hercules C-130s to perform
combat take-offs and execute critical landings in zones under fire. They
had to medevac some wounded Marines during the last mission. The navigator,
Captain Gary Kerr, spotted the chopper and kept them out of zones under
fire, in unison with Tech Sgt. Anne Witcher, also a commercial pilot
back in the U.S.A. The cargo crew, Tech Sgts. Blyane Leach and Ken Shartzer,
kept the passengers advised and spotted incoming rockets. George Bush,
another Texas National Guard aviator, would have been proud of this crew
from Crome 22 Texas. (Perhaps they have more time in service than their
commander in chief.)
The C-130 banked in an Arabian moonlit night filled
with stars, picked up a heading of 129 magnetic and flew over a brilliantly
illuminated string of wells in oil-rich southern Iraq, then followed
a bright Kuwait highway to a safe haven. The team of Air Force, Marines
and other branches have one common denominator: They are all American
patriots who want to bring a better life to some people in a faraway
land.
-- P.T. Brent |
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| Sunday, April 18, 2004
P.T. BRENT PHOTO CChyna, a Marine
War Dog, takes a break from sniffing for bombs in Fallujah to strike
a pretty pose for the camera.
Send in the doggone Marines
Editor's note:
P.T. Brent, a Honolulu businessman and former Marine infantryman, is
traveling with Marine units in Iraq, Afghanistan and Djibouti. His dispatches
from the war front will appear periodically on the Star-Bulletin editorial
pages.
CChyna, bred by the corps and tattooed Delta-043, is the pride
of the expanding Marine Corps dog tracker and security units. She's an
MWD, Marine War Dog. Perhaps named after the legendary Fourth Marines
of Shanghai fame, she is the close working pal of Marine Sgt. Dan Wheeler.
A Belgian Malau born Sept. 12, 1999, CChyna is trained to go ahead of
Marines and sniff out explosives and hidden snipers or terrorists. This
canine leatherneck knows her stuff. At Guantanamo, CChyna was used for "mind
deterrent" with
Afghan detainees. After some time off recently to heal from a broken
foot, CChyna is now with Master Dan in red-hot Fallujah to sniff out
IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Iraq.
These dogs are treasured
for their loyalty and their price tag. As pups, they cost $2,000; after
training they are valued at more than $60,000. When one dies, it is buried
with full Marine honors. There is a special war dog cemetery at Camp
Lejeune, N.C., with grave markers recounting the history of the deceased.
There lie some 30 dogs that gave life and faithful service to the Marine
Corps.
P.T. BRENT PHOTO CChyna, a Marine War Dog, eyes a tennis ball in a teasing
match with her trainer, Marine Sgt. Dan Wheeler.
The graduates of the new
program are tracker-oriented and will be assigned to Osama bin Laden's
backyard.
Wheeler, a gentleman from Grand Rapids, Mich. -- same home town
as former President Gerald Ford -- is a soft-spoken, classic Marine sergeant.
He played football and ran track at Rogers High School, class of '97. His
mom, Theresa, taught at Rogers Elementary for more than 20 years and his
dad, David, worked at Grand Rapids' water treatment facility after a hitch
as a Navy Seabee.
After attending Ferris State, Wheeler joined the Marine
Corps because his Uncle Gary, a "cool guy," was a leatherneck.
Later, his Uncle Tony suggested K-9 Corps activity and Wheeler re-enlisted
to get the assignment. He is seeking a commission program in the Corps.
When asked about the war dissenters, Wheeler replied, "My family has
always served. These people know that they are wrong." His wife,
Sara, also comes from a family with a Corps tradition. Wheeler's elder
brother was a Seabee, another brother, a firefighter, and younger brother
Justin may join the Marine Corps after he graduates from Rogers High this
year.
The daunting task of rebuilding Iraq is overwhelming in comparison
to waging the war. Iraq has the resources and the people to make it the
arena of a renaissance of the Muslim world. Let's pray the Iraqis give
us a chance to help them. This is a most auspicious moment to take pride
in America and our forces overseas. Do you remember pride in our country?
We used to have it by the carload. Forget whether you agree or not with
taking on Saddam Hussein, just get yourself a flag a wave it proudly.
Let's
pray for our distant warriors, and let's bring our young Americans home
safely. The faces of these leathernecks may seem younger -- faces like
Sgt. Dan Wheeler's and Capt. Chris Borzi's from Poughquaq, N.Y. (U.S. Naval
Academy, 1996). But the packs and the rifles, they weigh as much. The heat,
dust, cold and long night marches are all still there.
Yes, the faces may
appear younger, but beneath the surface runs the same blood that stained
and won battlefields from Tripoli to Iwo Jima, and from Guadalcanal to
Iraq. They are the same outfit. The United States Marine Corps.
- P.T. Brent |
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Sunday, May 2, 2004
THE WAR IN IRAQ - One man's
dispatches from northern Iraq
Editor's note: P. T. Brent, a Honolulu
businessman and former Marine, has been traveling in Afghanistan and
Iraq with U.S troops. The following are some of his observations from
the past few weeks.
By P.T. Brent
Beans, bullets and bandages
During
World War II, the Army was resupplied by the "Red Ball Express," a
euphemism for a transportation convoy company that kept the troops supplied
with the essentials for life in combat, such as beans, bullets and bandages.
A National Guard unit from New Hampshire is charged with
this challenge in northern Iraq. It's based out of Balad Air Force field,
now called Anaconda by the new landlord, the U.S. Army.
Normally, trucking
is a fairly safe profession, but not these days -- the Mahdi Army (Shia
leader Muqtada al-Sadr's militia) owns the highways. While the Marines
at Fallujah are rapidly running out of Class One supplies (water and
food), convoys recently have been detoured, reversed course and returned
to base and for the most part shot up by RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades),
IEDs (improvised exploding devices) and small arms fire.
The KBR contractors
returned yesterday with an RPG rocket stuck in the fuel tank. They incurred
a score of KIAs and WIAs (killed and wounded in action). Washing Machine
Charlie The nightly bomber at Guadalcanal during World War II was called
Washing Machine Charlie (a nickname given to the Japanese aircraft that
attacked U.S. military targets at night). His strange-sounding engine
was heard by the Marines on the ground as he bombed their airfield each
night. Here he is again at Anaconda with the Mahdi rockets, mortars and
small arms fire nightly from 2100 to midnight. Their schedule is as faithful
as old Washing's was. They seem to retire during the day, with the exception
of a few surprises.
The personnel here live in their helmets and armored
flak jackets almost around the clock. At the Seabees' headquarters you
see Navy people in shorts and an eclectic array of clothing beneath their
flak jackets, with their helmets and M-16 rifles at 0100 waiting for
the all clear.
Daisy chains - One young Marine was riding shotgun in our
convoy as we halted for an IED, the new, 21st-century lexicon for a roadside
bomb. This Marine, who would not like to be identified, stated, "The
most powerful military force in the world cannot maintain control of
a few hundred miles of highway." Perhaps he has a point. The ordnance
personnel arrived after an hour and exploded it in place. They took daisy
chains of as many as two dozen at a time and exploded them using the
signal from a cell phone tied to the highway guard rail.
Last week the
first fatality to the 7th Trans was incurred when several artillery shells
exploded at a bridge overpass, killing one soldier while the other one
was thrown clear as the truck went over the bridge. One 7th Trans sergeant
said he accompanied the body to mortuary affairs in Kuwait and a friend
met it in Delaware. "I
never, never want to have to do something like that again," the
sergeant said. These are citizen soldiers from small towns in or near
New Hampshire. They barbecue and train together and are far more bonded
than most military units as they do not transfer, but stay in the same
hometown year after year. They respect and love one another. It shows
when you attend their 0550 briefing for an emergency convoy to Fallujah
with Class One supplies for the embattled Marines.
Mission canceled - They
have a sense of mission and the importance attached. They have another
briefing at 0800. Red, amber and green are the codes. Their mission has
all "red" highways.
They discuss overpasses and the remedial actions for hit trucks or soldiers.
They review the rules of engagement, which are always evolving with the
increased pressures coalition forces are suffering. Just when we get
rolling, the word comes to hold up -- an early convoy was hit heavy.
After standing by for hours the mission is scrubbed. Half the trucks
make a run for Baghdad only to be detoured to another base after being
struck hard by the Mahdi.
It is Easter 2004 and also the first celebration
of the liberation of Iraq. But there is little happiness at coalition
headquarters because whether spoken or not ... ... the Mahdi now own
the highways in northern Iraq. |
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Other communications of note...
On Saturday 17 April, my Mother passed away at the Chicago nursing home,
where she had lived for the past few years. About two days after her
death, I received a voice mail from my hotel business partner Mike Dailey
announcing her death. Amazing I rarely have the ability to check from
a military base. He had learned from a message my sister had left with
the hotel desk staff. By the time I reached my sister on a call, she
had already had a funeral set. (the same mortuary family that buried
Mitch Paige) There was no way to be there from a Marine base in Africa
on time. I asked her to delay it, she refused.
Later called and asked
for the memorial church ceremony, mass & eulogy to be delayed until
my daughter Laura, myself and others who knew her well could attend.
She said she did not want to call everyone again... but seemed to agree
later. Next day received an e mail from her that she had decide go ahead
with her original plan without me. Those who know her... know she is
a special person. After chatting with Navy Chaplain Lt Commander Hannigan
Quigley Man/ Chicago this seemed like our only recourse. Therefore, we
are now going to have a service / mass for Mom in Hawaii, Monterey and
Chicago with her missing mourners in the near future. Life is full of
adjustments ... sadly.
My Mom was 85 born in Grand Rapids Michigan on
4 November 1918. We had a really great 80th party for her in Chicago...
where we did a "This is your life" theme... was the last really
good memory. Had just two children myself and my sister from a second
husband, my Marine stepfather Robert Brent, who adopted PTB as the age
of fourteen. My last visit about five times the last two years were sad.
She remember little and was fading fast. On the way to the Gulf Region
I stopped and saw her in Chicago, she was in very sad condition. I reflected
how her death may be a blessing.
She is now in heaven baking cookies
with my grandmother Laura Todd. She was a good mom and a fine person.
E-mails for messages like this seem strange ... Aloha nui loa Mom ...
Patrick |
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| John: Plenty of action at Balad .. all bad .....
never received trans to MEF ... nor a PAO who worked on it or offered comm....
However the environment was rich in sea stories most soon ... tired ...
These Marines and others are very excited about their pictures being in
the paper. It is a kick to see their responses to chatting about home.
Left Iraq on a dramatic C130 flight to Kuwait. Landed at 0200 and went
to sunrise service at 0500 followed by an Easter Sunday run at 0700 around
the base at Kuwait ... Camp Wolverine. It is bad back in Iraq ... my soon
to be released articles have little good news ... the bad guys own the
highways and are hitting our base pretty well, too!!! Marines and others
feel we are reacting instead going after them. We are reacting except in
Fallujah. where Marines are once again paying dearly for history. Next
stop Djibouti where ever that is ...???? smile..... the Horn of Africa
.... Then a run in England a break in Europe and home perhaps via Haiti
... read Chesty liked the chow there .... smile. Much to tell .... later
Happy Easter ... came earlier here .
USO in Kuwait is terrific. Aloha nui Loa Colonel, Patrick |
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http://hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?b7364bec-383a-4a63-9984-1cd50dc92926
Top
of Form Dispatches from the War on Terrorism Maui Marine By Tim Monaghan,
4/5/2004 7:09:08 AM Afghanistan ...
Meet First Sergeant Ernest Hoopii United
States Marine Corps, a career Marine from Maui.
Back during high school
years on Oahu, his pals at Mid Pacific use to call him "Hoop"
as he demonstrated his athletic prowess at volley ball, track, and of
course hoops. The young Marines at Charlie Company reverently call him
First Sergeant. He is older and perhaps wiser than any man in the unit.
A postion of considerable esteem within the Corps. He is the highest
ranking enlisted man in this infantry company of over two hundred men.
The
younger company commander a Captain Paul Merida from Oakland relies on
Hoop's
leadership, maturity and respect with the young Marines. Most are going
into harm's way for the first time. A memory and experience
these Leathernecks will have for a lifetime. An experience their protected
loved ones will never have to know.
America has always choosen to fight
our enemies overseas before they reach our shores. This hapa haole boy
(Hawaiian & Portuguese) now a veteran Marine from Maui is wise beyond
his years. Hoop after working in security at the Hyatt Regency Maui joined
the Corps. Why? When asked, Hoop says the Beirut
bombing really upset him (actually he did not say upset). His dad had
been a Marine in Korea.
After Beirut, he immediately called a Marine recruiter
in Oahu and went off to boot camp at San Diego recruit depot. Hoop's
priorities are to accomplish the mission assigned while taking care of
his fellow Marines, win the hearts of the Afghans, and seek and neutralize
the people who wish to kill Americans as well as Afghans desiring freedom.
This is not without sacrifice.
Hoop's wife Jeane Maria
is back at Lejune with Sean and Justin awaiting their Dad's
safe return. Hoop misses them. He also misses his new Harley (purchased
while at sea), eating fish and poi with pals in Maui. Hoop, however,
says once we are done in Afghanistan we can roll right down to Iraq on
our way home and clean it up, too. These young men may shove
off for the usual patriotism, adventure, duty and honor, however, when
rounds are fired in anger, Marines fight for each other. They endure,
not for lofty principles, but because they truly are their brother's
keeper.
Simply stated they fight for their fellow
Marines. Hoop's
leadership will be a critical life saver when under fire.
Since the 1900s
skeptical people have said, "Tell it to the Marines".¯
Meaning they believe Marines are an omniscient outfit, who will separate
reality from the foolish stories (sea stories). The rumors (scuttlebutt)
say Americans are targets in Afghanistan. They state that winning the
hearts and minds of the local populace is impossible.
Well, don't tell
that to the Marines¯ of Charlie Company. These warriors are
the best America has.
Under the leadership of Maui's First Sergeant "Hoop",
they have been missioned with winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan
people; while vigorously pursuing any enemy types who wish to alter and
embarrass the peace mission. These young Marines know that Afghanistan
is better off than it was a two years ago when another group of leathernecks
secured the dirt air strip at
They immediately covered about forty miles to pay a call on the Taliban
at their capital at Kandahar. A bitter battle ensued with the base now
being in coalition forces custody. Afghan schools, hospitals, utilities
and resources are better than they have ever been in the history of the
country.
A new highway is under construction looped the country together.
Americans, indeed are fortunate to have First Sergeant Hoopii and his
Marines fighting for democracy. This would be a most auspicious moment
to take pride in America and our forces overseas.
Do you remember pride
in our country; we used to have it by the carload. Forget whether you
agree or not with taking on Osamo bin Laden, just get yourself a flag
a wave it proudly. Let's pray for our distant warriors, and let's bring
our young Americans home safely. The heat, dust, cold and long night
marches are all still there. The faces of these young warriors may appear
to be younger. Faces like Paul Merida and faces like Joe Silvio. Yes,
the faces may appear younger. But beneath those faces runs the same blood
that stained and won battlefields, from Tripoli to Iwo Jima, and from
Guadalcanal to Iraq. They are the same outfit. The United States Marine
Corps. |
| |
Link direct http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/09/editorial/indexspecial.html
Sunday,
May 9, 2004
U.S. Marines bring hope to a poor African nation - French Foreign
Legion joins Marines
By P.T. Brent
Djibouti, Horn of Africa; A Jeep bus
careens wildly around a corner and the side mirror whacks the head of
a local man; he drops, apparently dead. Djiboutians take little notice.
Life is cheap is this lawless land.
Maj. Tom Prentice, a Marine from Texas,
calls Djibouti "the kind of place where you'd expect to see Indiana
Jones." This former French colony, contiguous with Ethiopia and
Somali, is in a tough neighborhood. According to the Marine Corps commanding
officer Col. Bill Callahan, an Irishman from West Hartford, Conn., the
primary values are location, location and location.
Djibouti (ja-BOOT-ti) is on
the Horn of Africa, at the crossroads of the Red Sea, Yemen, Somalia,
Kenya, Ethiopia and of course Arabia's rich oil fields. It is slightly
smaller than Massachusetts, with a population of 600,000 mostly Muslim
Africans. It has virtually a zero economy, little potable water and the
life expectancy for a Djiboutian born today is barely 40 years. This
sorrowful statistic is no doubt well assisted by the AIDS epidemic that
scientists believe originated in Africa; sadly, 12 percent of Djiboutians
now have HIV.
One of the Djiboutians' few recreations is a stimulant
called "khat," which
they get from chewing the leaves of the catha edulis plant. Each day
at 1300 the Marines see the cargo plane from Ethiopia land with the daily
khat sales to be distributed through a legally organized set of vendors.
Khat is widely used even at the highest circles of government.
Travel
here is at your own risk. The roads have no signage, even at railway
crossings. Livestock wander onto the highways. Vehicles, free of safety
measures, often seem to be out of control. Terrorists will thrive in
these lands without governance. America had to learn this the hard way.
Where we failed to stop Osama bin Laden in Ethiopia and Afghanistan,
we now intend to stop al-Qaida from establishing a base on or near the
Horn of Africa. Thus, enter the Marines who now have satellite bases
on Kenya's coast and in Ethiopia, operated from Djibouti as part of Operation
Enduring Freedom.
The Marines also provide humanitarian relief, which
currently includes building whatever structures were destroyed and purifying
water tainted by recent flooding in the normally arid region. This is
a hardship post for the Corps; usually no more than a six-month deployment
is required. This small base is reminiscent of the old posts in Latin
America, where Marines often represented the only semblance of law and
order.
During the Gulf War, Djibouti was the base of operations for French
forces, and France still maintains a garrison of the renowned French
Foreign Legion (see story on this page).
President Omar Gelleh is a strong
ruler who favors Djibouti's long-standing relationship with France. He
also favors the economic assets the United States offers his country.
The Germans also have some forces in Djibouti. Perhaps France and Germany,
too, would have been targets in Djibouti land, had their governments
not vetoed the U.S. resolutions at the United Nations. This the third
point in the AOR triangle (area of responsibility).
Lt. Gen. Chip Gregson and Brig. Gen. Jerry McAbee from Oahu
have the responsibility for this, as well as the Iraqi and Afghanistan
areas. Meanwhile, our Marines stand guard at a post in a critical location
in the global war on terrorism.
Be assured, says Col. Callahan, this
will not be a future home for al-Qaida. |
| |
| |
The U.S. Marines and
the French Foreign Legion are working together to bring relief to Djibouti, a normally arid African
nation hit hard recently with storms and the ensuing flooding.
Elite
French fighters join Marines
The famed French Foreign Legion aids relief
work in Africa
By P.T. Brent
Djibouti, Horn of Africa "If you turn me down once
more, I'll join the French Foreign Legion. "Au revoir, cherie "It's
the French Foreign Legion for me ..." This Frank Sinatra ballad
laments going off to join the French Foreign Legion after your girl turns
you down. Well, men from 120 countries have done just that, although perhaps
not all for that reason. The legendary Legion Etrangere are 7,500 strong.
Seventy percent of the enlisted are not French, but 90 percent of the officers
are.
Lt. Col. Benoit Durieux, graduate of Saint Cyr Academy in Brittany,
gave us some of the famed Legion's history. Only one out of every eight
men who try to enlist makes the grade. Many are given new identities
for protection. After five years, the term of enlistment, they are eligible
for French citizenship. They train four months in Castelnaudary, and
of course one of the subjects is teaching all those men from different
countries how to speak French. Clearly not for the faint-hearted, the
Legion stands out among elite fighting organizations. It generates more
mystery and romance than any other unit worldwide.
Legionnaires are part
of the French Army but are known by their distinctive Seven Flame Grenade
insignia. Legion regulations would raise the eyes even of our disciplined
Marines: Legionnaires using assumed identities are not allowed to have
bank accounts. A Legionnaire cannot own a motor vehicle or marry until
meeting several conditions, including being enlisted at least five years
and using his own identity. They must live in barracks and are not permitted
to wear civilian clothes during the first five years. Should they return
late from liberty, they will receive 10 days in prison. They must not
leave France until they have been in the Legion for three years.
Recently
a rare and devastating rainfall and subsequent flooding killed scores
of Djiboutians and displaced hundreds out of their meager homes. The
Legionnaires are repairing the homes and other damage done by the storm,
side by side with U.S. Marines who are operating a reverse-osmosis water
purification unit that converts nonpotable water to potable at the rate
of 600 gallons an hour. All these Marine Corps assignments fall under
the combined authority of Marine Forces Pacific/Marine Central Command
of Lt. Gen. Chip Gregson and Brig. Gen. Jerry McAbee, based on Oahu.
Between the United States Marines and the Legionnaires in Djibouti,
they well live up to the Legion's version of Semper fidelis: "Honneur
et Fidelite."
P.T.
Brent is a Hawaii businessman and a former Marine who has been traveling
with U.S. troops supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
P T B O U T |
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Iwo Jima article 17 March 2004
Aloha, take
a look at this article... found in this Sunday's Starbulletin.com. You
can read it by clicking at: http://starbulletin.com/2004/03/21/editorial/special2.html
For the other photographs compliments of Fire Team ONE.... JRB, RHL,
SEP & BRL.
Mahalo to Colonel Ripley and Ft1 for edits (Rifleman Petit Ft1 charlie
edits superb)
Photographs... http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b34d410ac43f
First a ... preliminary ptb personal reflection ... |
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My Mom and I had just exited the Strand Theater
on Division Street (Polish Area) in Chicago one warm summer night. My
Mom with quiet pride asked, did you know Robert Brent, the man I am about
to marry was a Marine?
I was eight years old and asked the next day,
if he had been on Iwo with John Wayne? The movie Sands of Iwo Jima left
a lasting impression on then Patrick Monaghan. I walked home thinking
what an incredible and brave man this future stepfather must be. Perhaps
he was even cooler than the "Duke'. I vowed to follow in his footsteps
after I out grew my Buster Brown shoes.
Years later while at Little Creek
Virginia with the second battalion, 24th Marines I remember climbing
down a cargo net, laden with military paraphernalia into a Higgins boat,
which smashing against the side of a Navy 558 foot LSD. It was intimidating,
and unlike the Sands of Iwo Jima, there was no patriotic Marine's hymn
being played in the background, like their was for Sergeant John Stryker
(Marine-John Wayne).
Military adventures in real life are far flung from
the silver screen. During that time PTB taught Marine Corps history classes
at the reserve center. Iwo was always a major study. A few days ago I
stepped off a private charter at Iwo Jima. The rush of getting there
(no easy mission) and the energy all faded. Left were some inner feelings,
almost ... impossible to describe.
Never have two extraordinary warrior
groups fought so bitterly for such a small bleak place. Their nobility
and the sacrifices would rest heavily on any visitor's mind, perhaps
a little more so, for a Marine type. These memories from third grade
onward called and asked for this record. |
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The Japanese A L A M O
Dateline: Iwo Jima, Japan 12 March
2004
To: Frank Bridgewater, Managing Editor Honolulu Star Bulletin From:
P.T. Brent
Marine and Navy pilots, 59 years ago,
called it "a charred pork chop".
From the sky in a Marine Corsair this
sulfuric volcanic island is dramatically different from what was experienced
by Marine infantry on these black coral beaches. The 3rd, 4th, & 5th
Marine Divisions encountered horrific casualties when attacking this now
legendary rock. A miniscule island comprised of only seven and one half
square miles, it was smaller than Santa Monica, California. It is about
twice the size of Honolulu Harbor and about 2/3 the size of Pearl Harbor.
A task force of 495 ships gathered, more than our current
Navy now has in totality (about 300 ships), assembled offshore awaiting
orders to "land
the landing force".
Iwo Jima (Japanese for Sulfur-Island) had another
invasion this month. The Marines based on Okinawa landed in full force
on a training mission. Marines are long on training. Green beach just
below Mount Suribachi (556 tough feet) was far less lethal than their
predecessor Leathernecks experienced 59 years ago. Iwo's black coral
sand swallowed the men up to their knees, immobilizing them. The results
were incomprehensible losses to both the Japanese and the Americans alike.
Over forty thousand casualties were suffered by both sides, including
the 28,000 killed in action.
There were 82 Medals of Honor awarded in
WWII. Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were earned on Iwo Jima alone. One
MOH was awarded to PFC Jack Lucas, who had conned Marine recruiters into
an enlistment at the age of 14. Pfc Lucas turned 17 while on Iwo and
had been a stowaway on the troop transports. This baby Marine fell upon
two grenades and subsequently survived 27 surgeries. When asked, why
he took such a risk, Jack replied: "to
save my buddies".
Joe Fachet is back on Iwo for the first
time since he fought there. Joe, when he first arrived as a replacement
Marine, asked a corporal why a man was out there amongst the Marine bodies
with bullets flying all around him. The Corporal replied, "He is
Father Pat Lonergan our chaplain giving last rites to the men". With
tears running down his cheeks, Joe Fachet said until the day he dies,
he believes he saw a halo of safety around Father Lonergan.
We join the
other seven Iwo Jima Veterans. Ranging from 77 to 85, these aging Leathernecks
are all here for a last visit. There first and only time since 1945,
these men will for a final moment revisit this hallowed island, now a
shrine to both sides. These somber men speak softly and profoundly..... "Not
a day in my life goes by I do not think of Iwo." Joe Fachet
"A
rough place to be" said Jim Platt of Buffalo. When asked why he
went... Marine Platt answered, "I'm a Marine, we go where we are
sent and do what they tell us to do. We do not go home until the job
gets done".
"It
was kill or be killed, I feel at times, maybe, I never should have left
here alive", was the sentiment of Charles Modrell, Kansas City.
"It
made a better man out of me", stated Al Abbatiello who hails from
the Bronx, NYC. Bill Leverence 85, and son Mike 55, from Chicago showed
his Dad's now famous Iwo flamethrower photograph. Dad, wounded
on Iwo finally returned for a last reflective moment.
Long after the
battle, the Japanese commander, General Kuribayashi would receive high
accolades from the Lt. General Smith of the Marine Forces. Smith lavished
praise on this amazing Japanese military man. He said he fought better
than the Germans or any foe; we had ever fought in World War Two. General
Kuribayashi was educated in the USA. He was quoted: "The United
States is the last country in the world that Japan should ever fight."
A
L A M O in the P A C I F I C
For the Japanese and their Commanding General
this was their Alamo. Iwo is just 660 miles from Tokyo. The Mayor of
Tokyo was also the Mayor of this same prefecture with two critical airfields.
The USA was attacking their homeland. Just like the Texans, General Todamuchi
Kuribayashi had been ordered to hold off the invaders of his homeland
as long as possible. Like the Alamo, he was tasked with fighting to the
last man. This would make the cost so dear to the Marines; that his hope
was America might negotiate rather than invade Japan.
Like the Alamo,
the Japanese Army fought until virtually every one of 22,000 troops had
died; including thirty children, each was issued two grenades, one to
attack Marines and the other for self destruction. There is a monument
at Iwo for these young botany students who were stranded on this sulfuric
island.
The Marines, for the first time, had higher
casualties than the enemy, 24,000 Marines were killed or wounded. Two
out of every three Marines who landed were killed or wounded. The transport
ships, which were crowded upon arrival, departed Iwo Jima with ample
room on board for all the somber men returning home.
The Japanese General had
spent a year building, arguably, the most impenetrable fortress of all
time, comprised of a series of caves from 30 to 75 feet below the rock
surface. Many days of naval fire and air bombing resulted in few casualties.
Only 7 out of 22,000 were killed in attacks prior to "D" day.
The Japanese were not on Iwo. Indeed, they were "inside" it.
Lighting systems, ventilation shafts, and 400 beds carved into the rock
walls constituted their hospital.
The tunnels all were interlaced so
their murderous artillery and mortar fire would descend upon the Marines
throughout these horrific battles. One Marine said, "not getting
hit was like running through rain and trying to stay dry".
The General
admonished his men to kill ten Americans each, before they die for the
Emperor. They were completely out of water and food the last ten days.
Their night attacks on Marines showed all Marine canteens missing. On
the 8th of January 1949 the last two Japanese soldiers came out of these
sulfur caves and surrendered to the American forces. They had read in
a discarded paper that Americans were celebrating Christmas in Tokyo.
These Japanese soldiers were brave men
who died at their posts; hated then, respected now. Today those caves
still have many ghostly military accouterments, which like the bodies
of the defenders have been mummified by this sulfuric heat.
In 1984 Colonel
Ripley of the Marine historical division discovered the journal of Kuribayashi
and his chief of staff's body, all perfectly preserved.
1/400 of a second...
Over half a century later, each year, Marines (and they are "still" Marines)
return to this black sand island where they lost 6,821 of their fellow
Marines. These few aging warriors come once a year. They slowly climb
up Mount Suribachi where, on "D" day plus four, the 23rd of
February 1945 in 1/400 of a second, Joe Rosenthal captured the combat
picture of all time. It won the Pulitzer Prize. Five Marines and navy
corpsman from the 28th Marine regiment raised an oversized US Flag on
a 100 pound rusted plumbing pole. The flag ( 8 X 4 foot ships port flag)
from an Hawaiian Based LST 779 was recovered from a damaged Pearl Harbor
7 December ship. The camera shutter blinked spontaneously as a Marine
said "there she
goes..."
Now the world's largest bronze sculpture
is located in the nation's capital. The Corps icon established for all
time. In this Guam Navy dark room a photo technician, first to see this
Pulitzer Prize picture and. ....wrote on the envelope.... The Unblinking
Eye In the blood red light, the photo technician rolled up his sleeves,
a pack of Lucky Strikes stuck snugly in one arm, and dipped down to lift
the paper from the developer bath. His breath caught in his throat as
he lifted the dripping image of five Marines and one navy corpsman hoisting
shrapnel torn, but rippling flag of the United States on top of Mount
Suribachi.
Trembling, he clipped the photograph taken
by Joe Rosenthal to the line where rivulets ran off in quiet, steady
drops. When the picture dried, it was gently placed inside a manila envelope.
It was titled simply and without description. "Here's
one for all time."
The resulting Iwo war bond drive set
a never broken record, over 220 million was raised (billions by today's
standard). The three-cent postage stamp sold a record 20 million dollars
in stamp sales. The record for this unique vertical green stamp is still
never broken today (first class postage costs 37-cent stamp today ...
still a good deal).
Three of the six flag raisers died before
leaving the island. Of the forty Marines on the Suribachi assault platoon
only four survived. Our way of life in America, like freedom, is not
cheap. On Iwo, we experienced a carnal and a gruesome standard rarely
witnessed since Gettysburg. "An ominous reminder to those who would
wage war with the United States", stated John Ripley the head of
the Marine Corps history and traditions division.
Sadly, 1500 World War
Two veterans die daily in the USA. Riverside National Cemetery in Southern
California buries one veteran, every minutes Monday thru Friday. All
these Marines are a salute to every US fighting man who was ever sent
off to war since 1776.
Hopefully Americans will always prove worthy
of their sacrifices. After securing the island, the Marine burial detail
placed this sign at the cemetery for their fallen comrades... "When you
go home tell them for us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today."
Americans will forever be indebted to these humble heroes of yesteryear.
The Marines of Iwo Jima
About Iwo Jima
- US wanted a base 660 miles from Tokyo for bombing and for crippled
planes to be rescued. It has hundreds of miles of tunnels and was defended
as homeland by the Japanese. Now back in Japanese custody, it is jointly
used in perpetuity by the US Marines and Japan for military exercises.
It is maintained as a shrine by the Japanese for their war dead. See www.PacificWarMemorial.org for
information of Iwo Jima memorial at Marine Base Hawaii. |
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This Triple zero one is PTB's favorite
.... many key people are inserted
Sunday, May 30, 2004 THE WAR IN IRAQ
Photo at Paper link and at Shutterfly COURTESY J.R. BATES Marine Lt.
Rustin Bates shouts commands moments before shooting his 9-mm pistol
at a car speeding toward this checkpoint. The seated Iraqi men are suspected
insurgents. Bates recently was awarded the Bronze Star. TRIPLE ZERO ONE
A day in the life of a combat Marine By P.T. Brent Special to the Star-Bulletin
Editor's note: The following contains some strong language. Zero zero
zero one .... It is one minute after midnight Saturday on a wind swept
rooftop over looking Husaybah Iraq. Staff Sergeant Adam Walker looks
out, during a quiet moment, at the scene where his platoon lost some
good men yesterday. Tired, but unable to sleep, he remembers he has not
eaten in nearly a day. Adam writes back home: ... " the
intensity here is contagious. We have been blooded and the anger is big
time. Losing is not in the vocabulary of these Marines. There is a warrior
spirit here, which is hard to explain to many of you folks back home".
0100 Dogs are barking constantly ... the damn local dogs are unnerving.
When on patrol the stealth vision lenses are compromised by the dogs always
barking. There are always anywhere from three to ten dogs barking. They
give away your position... you often know where another Marine patrol is
by the sound of the dogs. They do not bark at locals ... their smell is
different. 0130 Adam removes his K bar knife from its sheath, located on
the front of his new flak jacket. The new SAPI (self armor protection inserts)
plates now stop 7.62 rounds, the bullets of the AK 47 the preferred weapon
of his enemies. They are heavier, but their stopping power saves lives.
The percentage of wounded WIA versus KIA is six to one. The military aide
stations and hospitals have worked around the clock lately. His K Bar slices
the length of an MRE (meal ready to eat) meal pouch. Spaghetti and meat
balls served cold. The packet includes a heat thermal pouch, which with
an inch of water heats the food fairly well. There is little time or interest
in heat for Marines in a tactical position. Adam takes a plastic spoon
and scoops out a few bites of chow remembering the sign at the base mess
hall ... Great place to dine ....Ten Thousand flies cannot be wrong......
just as his platoon commander 2nd Lt. Tom Prentice arrives to pass on the
latest "gouge". (Marine-speak for data-scoop etc) Last night
at the mess hall in Iraq the TV had CNN once again talking about the abuse
of prisoners in Iraq... Sergeant Jerry Butzen yells turn that F$^*$#ing
thing off! Marines believe these were dangerous men they sent to prison.
They do not deserve to be back on the streets, where they will be planting
more explosives to kill Americans. 0200 Tucked into his poncho liner bag
only half way in order to keep his M 16 at the ready, Adam slowly wakes
to thoughts back home. He was dreaming of a pretty girl name Kathy. As
reality sets in Adam thinks about the recruiter he met in High School ...
where is he now? The grizzled Marine gunnery Sergeant asked him: "if
he thought he had the stuff to become a Marine" ... well, if the old
Gunny could be here now, Adam believes he might pass muster now. COURTESY
S.E. PETIT, RIFLEMAN Marines near Fallujah, Iraq, remain watchful after
fending off an attack by insurgents, while children nearby seem unperturbed.
0500 Corpsman Steve Colon, a navy guy, called affectionately "Doc" drops
in to report all supplies have arrived. The U. S. Navy provides all medical
personnel for Marines, the Marine Corps is a Department of the Navy. Every
Marine is a basic rifleman, even the aviators, cooks and truckers are riflemen.
Even the JAG lawyer Major Laura Monaghan is trained in infantry. No one
is a non combatant. It is the way it has always been. 0530 Adam pulls out
his combat notebook .... Plans are for a patrol later in the day into Fallujah.
Now is the time for a few moments for personal hygiene ... Marines shave
each and every day ... an unshaven Marine have better just returned from
patrol... it is a discipline... one of the many by which Leathernecks live.
Empty cartons from the MRE's are often used as a crude portable toilets.
Baby wipes and a personal supply of toilet paper from back home are prized.
Mail call (about twice a week) is one of the few work details that always
has many volunteers. There are some port-o-johns always with a line, lines
for chow, lines for mail, and lines for new gear. 0600 After a few more
hours of shut eye... the door of their hardback tent keeps slamming BAM
BAM, it is only a plywood door with a bungee cord ... BAM BAM. Adam gets
the platoon up for chow and for weapons cleaning. M16s, rocket launchers,
SAW's (squad automatic weapon) and AT4's (anti tank weapon) all have to
be 100% clean. The Marines work in small fire team units of four and are
inspected several times by senior NCO's. (non commissioned officers Corporals
/Sergeants) Lance Corporal Rich Linsday is worried about his ACOG new sniper
scope... training is scheduled. Marines are long on training, training
and re-training. 1100 The radio echoes a message now seared to his memory
forever ... Marines are receiving SAF (small arms fire) and mortars from
the town... five Marines are dead and nine are wounded. The enemy has new
ideas like frozen mortars. The mortar rounds are placed with water in PCV
pipes until frozen; then positioned at angles to hit Marines later, as
the sun beats down and releases the round in the tube. Fear hits, an RPG
(rocker propelled grenade) rocket within inches of his head ... shrapnel
from it cut his cheek. Adam tucks his head down and wishes he could pull
his helmet down to his toes as rounds hit. The brawl has started again
... Adam hears PFC Dick Moore yell the F**&% Hagii's are on the roof...
we need some grenades on their F%$$&* fast! The air is thick with the
smell of cordite. (gun powder). 1300 The Skipper (company commander) Captain
Chris Bronzi brings a platoon up to flank the insurgents and radios in
for a Cobra to fire on the roof. Suddenly, all is quiet and we create a
causality collection point and call in medevac. Everyone is counted, security
checked and new zones of fire are soon established. 1500 Mail arrives,
as some Marines return from the internet bunker, where they wait about
an hour to secure thirty minutes on a computer for e mail from home. The
news is filled with the prison photos and ill treatment of Iraqi prisoners...
some of these prisoners were captured by Adam's unit while setting up IED's
(improvised explosive device) to kill Americans... The Sergeant Major said: "One
... oh shit" like this...takes away .... from the 100 good things
Marines do in the field every day". Adam thinks that now many will
believe this handful of prison guards represents all Americans ...damn.
Corporal John Redmond jokes: "we can get even with these Hagii's
by sending all of their women to college .. Then they will get the same
treatment American men get." Last week Marines rebuilt a medical
clinic and a local school. Jobs have been created for hundreds of locals
in their AOR (area of responsibility). Locals are turning in these insurgents
by the dozen, as they too are tired of the conflict. The press often fails
to note the good accomplished. Iraq is setting records for hospitals, schools
an improved standard of life. The locals three quarters of them seem to
welcome the Marines, problem is which ones to trust. Most of Iraqi's are
happy Saddam is gone but they have been raised to dislike westerners as
well as people of different faiths. When on patrol kids come out and wave
... men just stand around drinking a chia ( a strong tea) and staring.
You wave and some times you get a smile and a "Haloe Mister".
You rarely see women, if you do they are covered except for their dark
eyes (often beautiful ones) staring at you. We never wave to the women.
So much for the land of flying carpets, harems, slave dens, Ali Baba and
Sinbad the sailor. All are now bygone fantasies. 1600 The squad links up
with Lieutenant Rustin Bates' CAAT (Combined arms anti-tank platoon) several
armor vehicles are firing at the squad. Lt Bates has Marines fire AT4's
and Tows at the enemy... under cover of his men's rifles Lt Bates rushes
the vehicles and drops a fragmentation grenade into three vehicles making
a combat roll after each grenade drop to avoid getting hit. Lt Bates draws
his 9mm pistol fires two rounds into the high speed car. 1630 Back at a
vehicle check point a white Mercedes Benz is seen approaching at high speed.
Without hesitation Lt Bates draws his 9mm pistol fires two rounds into
the high speed car. The vehicle pulls over and the three occupants are
detained. 1700 The Marines have some hot chow brought up in VAC cans (vacuum
cans) from the mess... some watch movies on personal DVD players.... The
unit was back at its home base in the USA only four months after the initial
war last year...this time, considerably smarter-saltier most of them brought
over a few creature comforts. 1800 Late afternoon is spent preparing for
another patrol. Maps, comm and assignments are covered and reviewed in
painstaking detail. One fire team is doing laundry by hand shaking it in
an old ammo cans with some soap. They squeeze in personal hygiene as time
permits. The weather is picking up... the weather in this part of Iraq
is like the high desert of Afghanistan where Adam served two years ago...29
Palms California is almost identical.. the winds are ferocious and sand,
a fine sand permeates everything. Wars have a tendency to locate in inhospitable
places. 1900 Early evening, after a partial MRE Adam tries to get some
sleep... but the thoughts of the upcoming patrol and the smells of Iraq
keep him awake. .... like the world's largest ash tray turned upside down.
Smells of rotting trash, stagnant water, human waste, oil soaked soil,
body odors, and cheap cigarettes gives Iraq an unique stench of its own
...Iraqi's burn all their trash openly plastic, foods, it all offers a
distinct odor, in time, you get inured to it. Gunny Vogt said the Iraq
is like the world's largest ash tray turned upside down. 2200 ... and the
patrol assembles ... Adam believes this war will reaffirm his Corps' reputation
for fighting success or his Marines will die trying. He knows that whenever
he has been nervous about young Marines, they always have far surpassed
his expectations. Adam has one of his squads gather around him as he kneels
and prays: 2300 ... Lord, we pray you will grant us success... We are Marines...bring
us all back safely... The Lord's work will be done this day" ...Amen
Most Marines believe their appointed time to leave this world is set...
and there is little they can do to change it. 2329 Iraq has the same
rain, dust, fear and dying that makes all wars, a costly waste. An experience,
best not shared, and not wished, on any man. All military men have experienced
it, ever since Alexander the Great. 2359 hours ... one minute until midnight
...another day has past for these Marine from third battalion Seventh
Marines Regiment .... Proud footnote: Lt Bates has been awarded the Bronze
Star with Combat V for valor.
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link to last Sunday's Hawaii Star Bulletin Notre Dame Camp
Story ..... http://starbulletin.com/2008/07/13/sports/story05.html
|
| he World's-Greatest Marine" Kudos' to P.T. Brent for
his article on General John Archer LeJeune in the April 2008 edition of
LEATHERNECK. Respect and proper recognition are long ... http://www.capveterans.com/parris_island_south_carolina/id20.html - 36k - Cached - Similar pages |
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Send in the doggone Marines - A story from Iraq
This canine leatherneck
... http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-stories/iraq/doggone.asp
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?e182ef78-645c-44b8-b27e-fc0a2484fd0f
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?b7364bec-383a-4a63-9984-1cd50dc92926
http://www.leatherneckmagazine-digital.com/leatherneckmagazine/200806/?pg=6
http://www.leatherneckmagazine-digital.com/leatherneckmagazine/200804/?pg=3 |
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| http://pipl.com/directory/people/P.T./Brent |
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