NBCSanDiego-Camp Pendleton Marines Deployed To Iraq For 3rd Time

All I can say is, go with God, because you have done your time in hell, twice.

Semper Fi

Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin

1/6/06-DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin, 44, of Mercer, Pa., died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Jan. 5, when he was conducting a dismounted patrol at an Iraqi police recruiting station and an individual-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his position. McLaughlin was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Washington, Pa.

Semper Fi

Sgt. Jason LopezreyesSpc. Ryan D. Walker

1/6/06-DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 5, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during convoy operations. Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

Killed were:

Sgt. Jason Lopezreyes, 29, of Hatillo, Puerto Rico.

Spc. Ryan D. Walker, 25, of Stayton, Ore.

Semper Fi

Maj. William F. Hecker
Capt. Christopher P. Petty
Sgt. 1st Class Stephen J. White
Sgt. Johnny J. Peralez, Jr.
Pvt. Robbie M. Mariano

1/6/06-DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of five soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in An Najaf, Iraq, on Jan. 5, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during convoy operations. The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:

Maj. William F. Hecker, III, 37, of St. Louis, Mo.

Capt. Christopher P. Petty, 33, of Vienna, Va.

Sgt. 1st Class Stephen J. White, 39, of Talladega, Ala.

Sgt. Johnny J. Peralez, Jr., 25, of Kingsville, Texas.

Pvt. Robbie M. Mariano, 21, of Stockton, Calif.

Semper Fi

Extra Armor Could Have Saved Many Lives, Study Shows

By MICHAEL MOSS

A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.

The ceramic plates in vests currently worn by the majority of military personnel in Iraq cover only some of the chest and back. In at least 74 of the 93 fatal wounds that were analyzed in the Pentagon study of marines from March 2003 through June 2005, bullets and shrapnel struck the marines' shoulders, sides or areas of the torso where the plates do not reach.

Thirty-one of the deadly wounds struck the chest or back so close to the plates that simply enlarging the existing shields "would have had the potential to alter the fatal outcome," according to the study, which was obtained by The New York Times.

Fire the Commander-in-Chief now!

Semper Fi

New AP poll, bad for Bush bad for Republicans via AMERICAblog

Go read!
Semper Fi

CENTCOM-TWO MARINES KILLED IN FALLUJAH

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Two Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed by small-arms fire in separate attacks while conducting combat operations against the enemy in Fallujah Jan. 5.

The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.

Semper Fi

CENTCOM-TWO TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIERS KILLED

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed Jan. 5 when an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle while on patrol in the Multi-National-Division Baghdad area of operations.

The names of the Soldiers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Semper Fi

CENTCOM-MARINE, SOLDIER KILLED IN SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A Marine and a Soldier assigned to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed in action by a suicide bomb attack on an Iraqi police recruitment center near the Ramadi Glass and Ceramics Works, Jan. 5.

The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.

Semper Fi

At least 134 killed in attacks across Iraq

80 killed in one bombing

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In the deadliest day in Iraq in nearly four months, at least 134 people were killed and scores were wounded in separate insurgent-bomb attacks, authorities said Thursday.

In Ramadi, 80 people were killed and dozens wounded when a bomber detonated near an Iraqi police recruitment and screening drive, according to a U.S. Marine news release.

About 1,000 people were waiting in line to apply for positions on the reconstituted Iraqi police force, officials said.

Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province, where, just before the elections, U.S. and Iraqi military forces conducted several operations aimed at rooting out a strong insurgency there.

And I thought the insurgents were going to lay down their weapons and embrace democracy.

Semper Fi

MNF-Iraq Five Task Force Baghdad Soldiers killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Five Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed today when an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle while on patrol in the Multi-National-Division Baghdad area of operations.

Semper Fi

Donald Winter Sworn In as New Secretary of the Navy

In the, if any anybody cares department.

Donald C. Winter was sworn in today (Jan. 3) as the 74th secretary of the Navy by Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England. In this position, Winter leads the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps team and is responsible for almost 900,000 people and an annual budget in excess of $125 billion.

Snip

Before joining the Bush administration, Winter served as a corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector.

How much do you want to bet the Navy and Marines will be flying some nice, new, Northrop Grumman aircraft?

Semper Fi

Seaman 2nd Class Warren P. Hickok

Navy Seaman Missing from Pearl Harbor Attack is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. Navy seaman missing in action from the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified and will soon be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Seaman 2nd Class Warren P. Hickok of Kalamazoo, Mich. The family has not set a date for his burial.

Hickok was assigned to the Light Mine Layer the USS Sicard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Many crewmembers from the USS Sicard, including Hickok, were dispatched to assist the crew of the USS Cummings, a destroyer docked nearby. The Cummings succeeded in getting underway and clearing Pearl Harbor with no casualties reported. However, an investigation into those still unaccounted-for after the attack surmised that Hickok may have been a casualty aboard the battleship, the USS Pennsylvania, since some crewmen from the USS Sicard had been dispatched to the USS Pennsylvania during the attack. But records indicate that Hickok was not lost aboard that ship.

In the days following the attack, burial details interred many of the unknown dead in Nuuanu Cemetery on Oahu. Among those buried were an unknown sailor identified only as X-2. Following the war, the Army Graves Registration Service oversaw the disinterment of unknown remains, including the X-2 remains. They could not be identified and were reburied in Section E, Grave 73 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, on June 9, 1949.

In 2004, an avocational historian contacted the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Hawaii and suggested that the remains in Grave 731 may be those of Hickok. Based on available records, JPAC exhumed the grave in June 2005. Forensic anthropologists at JPAC were able to match those remains, including dental remains, with detailed information found in Hickok's World War II medical and dental records.

Of the 88,000 unaccounted-for Americans from all conflicts, 78,000 are from World War II.

Semper Fi

List of casualties from Dec. 15 to Jan. 4

• Sgt. 1st Class John D. Morton


• Spc. Joseph A. Lucas


• Sgt. Timothy R. Boyce


• Cpl. Adam R. Fales


• Lance Cpl. Samuel Tapia


• Staff Sgt. Johnnie V. Mason, 32


• 1st Lt. Michael J. Cleary


• Spc. Richard Junior D. Naputi


• 1st Lt. Benjamin T. Britt


• Spc. William Lopez-Feliciano


• Sgt. Myla L. Maravillosa


• Master Sgt. Joseph J. Andres, Jr


• Sgt. Regina C. Reali


• Sgt. Cheyenne C. Willey


• Spc. Sergio Gudino


• Spc. Anthony O. Cardinal


• Sgt. Dominic R. Coles


• Spc. Dane O. Carver


• Spc. Lance S. Sage


• Pvt. Joshua M. Morberg


• Chief Warrant Officer Richard M. Salter


• Chief Warrant Officer Isaias E. Santos


• Pfc. Jason D. Hasenauer


• 1st Sgt. Tobias C. Meister


• Spc. Aaron M. Forbes


• Pfc. George A. Lutz, II


• Pvt. Jonathan R. Pfender


• Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Vanderhorn


• Spc. Marcelino R. Corniel


• Sgt. 1st Class Shawn C. Dostie


• Spc. Prince K. Teewia


• Sgt. 1st Class Jason L. Bishop


• Staff Sgt. Ayman A. Taha

Semper Fi

I'm back, after a computer crash.

Well, my AMD 1.3 ghz machine has bought the farm. I think the CPU fried. I'm now working with a old Intel 500 mhz until I can buy a new motherboard/CPU.

Semper Fi