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August 26, 2008 09:29 AM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Josh Glover

MARINE RECEIVES SILVER STAR MEDAL

MARINE BARRACKS WASHINGTON, Washington D.C.(Oct. 28, 2005) -- The annals of Marine Corps history are filled with stories of men and women who have sacrificed their all in service to their country. Puller, Basilone, Lejeune, Butler, Daley—names that are synonymous with valor in combat and Marine Corps lore.

"There is a fellowship of valor that links all U.S. Marines, past, present, and future," said Joseph Alexander, retired Marine Colonel in his book The Battle History of the U.S. Marines: A Fellowship of Valor.

Now, another story of valor can be added to the Marine history books and for one Marine officer assigned to the Corps' "Oldest Post," that story is one of modesty and simply taking care of his Marines.

Dallas native, Capt Joshua L. Glover was presented the nation's third highest award for valor in combat—the Silver Star medal.

Glover, a 2001 United States Naval Academy graduate, received his award during a chilly early morning ceremony held aboard the Post Oct 28, 2005 from the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Michael W. Hagee.

The 26-year-old received the award for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving as 81mm Mortar Platoon Commander with Weapons Company and Quick Reaction Force Platoon Commander, 1st Marine Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 13, 2004 in Al Fallujah.

When asked about the award, Glover humbly diverts attention away from himself.

"I received this award because of something we did as a platoon, and I am really proud of what we accomplished that day," he said.

Occurring during the second of his three deployments to Iraq, Glover led and directed his platoon through enemy lines to recover classified material from a downed CH-53 helicopter. The platoon was attacked by Iraqi forces employing machinegun, small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Glover skillfully maneuvered his force and assaulted through the ambush to friendly lines, inflicting numerous enemy casualties.

After successfully completing the mission, Glover was ordered that same evening to recover a destroyed Assault Amphibious Vehicle and assist in the rescue of a besieged rifle platoon deep behind enemy lines. Glover and his Marines found themselves up against a company-sized Iraqi force along the enemy's main line of resistance where as stated in Glover’s Silver Star citation, "...he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire as he engaged enemy targets at point-blank range while directing the rifle platoon's relief and coordinating recovery operations."

Glover attributes the battle as a success because of the hard work of the Marines in his charge, and his common sense approach to leadership.

"When you train Marines you have to get them to focus on the basics. In a chaotic situation such as combat, the basics will get them through," said Glover.

According to Glover, it's more than just training that makes a platoon of Marines successful in combat. Strong leadership in your Non-Commissioned Officers is vital. In order to be successful, with the dispersion between elements in today's combat environments, your NCOs have to be equipped and empowered to make decisions, he said.

And through something very challenging, Glover has earned a new outlook on his life.

"I have learned to appreciate what we have here in the U.S., both the general safety we enjoy and the quality of our lives," said Glover.

And while the battle for which Glover was awarded was a success, he feels the enormity of the price that was paid.

"I lost a Marine that day, as did another unit in the battalion. We can not separate [the victory from the loss], and I think we need to do our best to make them and their families proud," he said.

For those Marines who have been called upon to defend freedom in far off lands, sacrifice is the common thread that binds them together. The desire to join their brethren in combat keeps them ready to go. And, at the Corps' "Oldest Post," another story can be added to the history books—-one of sacrifice, humility and valor.

Maxstake

August 27, 2008 03:29 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Leigh Ann Hester

According to United States military policy, Leigh Ann Hester should not be in direct combat. The long debated issue of whether women should have a front line role in battle is often blurred in this assemetrical 360 degree battlefield that has become our nation’s newest World War.

Regardless of how one feels about a woman’s participation on the battlefield, Hester displayed fidelity and valor that trancends gender, and when that small aspect of this story is removed, she maintains a place in the hero roll call of Iraq. As with all other professional soldiers in the military, when given the austere conditions of battle, she was able to focus and hone her craft at the highest levels.

Outside Salman Pak, Iraq on March 20, 2005, as a member of the 617th Military Police Company, an Army National Guard unit out of Kentucky, Hester’s squad was pulling security for a supply convoy on a Main Supply Route when anti-Iraqi forces ambushed the column. SGT Hester’s squad leader, Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein, hastily enveloped possible enemy egress routes. When his squad flanked from the side of the road, insurgents were cut off from any possible escape. At that point, SGT Leigh Ann Hester brilliantly led her fire team through the “kill sac” and into a doctrinaly sound position to engage and destroy fleeing insurgents. When she personally led her team into a trench line, she tossed fragmentation grenades and fired 40 mm M203 high explosive rounds that quickly overwhelmed the enemy and allowed her fire team to achieve and maintain fire superiority. Hester and SSG Nein then cleared two other trenches, at that time she engaged and destroyed three insurgents with her M4 rifle.

When the smoke cleared, her unit was responsible for 27 dead insurgents, six wounded and one insurgent detainee. For these actions, SGT Hester became the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star (the third highest award for combat valor) since World War Two. SSG Nein was also awarded a Silver Star.

Hester, 23, is another glowing example of the quality of warrior this generation provides its nation throughout this Global War on Terror. Her actions that day in March 2005 were directly responsible for saving lives and represent the finest traditions of the United States military.

Whether women should be in the front lines of combat is a moot point when aggressed by this fantical Islamist enemy today in Iraq. When bullets and rockets are slamming into peers and subordinates, valor and selfless service are called upon. As long as this nation has defenders of freedom like SGT Leigh Ann Hester who can expertly excute their duties in such an overwhelming manner, we realize more fully all the contributions that are needed for victory in this fight against those who plot to destroy our American way of life.

Maxstake

August 28, 2008 08:51 AM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Chris Neidziocha

Fierce fire fight brings together MEU ground and air fighters
(Featuring Vets for Freedom member, Chris Niedziocha)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE RIPLEY, Afghanistan (June 4, 2004 ) -- When the lead elements of a large 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) and Afghan Militia Force (AMF) convoy recently entered a village in central Afghanistan, nothing seemed out of place and it looked as if another quiet day would soon draw to a close.

However, in a flash, all that changed when the specter of Taliban insurgency reared its ugly head.

As four machine gun and anti-tank missile-toting Humvees of Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 6th Marines' Combined Anti-Armor Team pushed through the village and spread out to assume blocking positions on its far side, the lead vehicle noticed three Afghan men attempting to nonchalantly walk out of the village and into the surrounding mountains.

"I saw them walking away from the village and up a hill," said 1st Lt. Chris Niedziocha, who hails from Montgomery County, Penn. and serves as the CAAT platoon leader. "We immediately went after them and when we got closer they started running."

Meanwhile, the other three CAAT vehicles had been converging on Niedziocha's position, fighting through the difficult terrain and confusing village layout to reach their platoon leader.

As Niedziocha's vehicle (dubbed Light Horse 1-1) pulled up to a stop behind the three men, Niedziocha and his driver, Lance Cpl. Ray Colvin, got out to order them to stop when one of the three stopped, turned, drew a Russian-made AK-47 assault rifle from under his clothes and opened fire on the Marines. The vehicle's gunner, Cpl. Curtis Spivey, of Vidalia, Georgia, was the first to respond to the threat.

"Spivey let go a few bursts with the 240 [M240G machine gun mounted atop the Humvee] and all three of the bad guys jumped into a trench and began firing on us," Niedziocha said.

In a span of only a few minutes, Niedziocha and his crew had accomplished the first two edicts of their battalion commander's instructions to 'find, fix, and finish' the enemy and set out to accomplish the third as well. Carrying their M16A2 assault rifles and with grenades bulging in their pockets, Niedziocha and Colvin began pushing forward while Spivey jumped from the vehicle and grabbed the rifle from CAAT's forward air controller, Capt. James 'Big Jim' McBride who was busy radioing for air support.

"Beaver [Capt. James Hunt] was controlling some helos for Charlie Company so when we broadcast that we were in contact, they switched over to support us," said McBride, an EA-6B Prowler crewman from Butte, Montana. McBride and his radioman, Lance Cpl. Jason Heighland, of Eaton Rapids, Mich. stayed on the vehicle to provide security as their comrades advanced.

The helicopters weren't the only ones to hear the announcement of troops in contact. Driving Light Horse 1-6, Sgt. Dan Trackwell, a machine gunner from Klamath Falls, Oregon was already speeding toward Niedziocha's and the call spurred him on. Sitting beside Trackwell was his assistant driver, Cpl. Nicholas Marrone of Saranac, New York, and riding on top was his MK-19 heavy machine gunner, Lance Cpl. Jonathan Freeze of Naples, Florida.

"As soon as I heard them say 'contact' all bets were off," said Trackwell, who 'stood' on the gas pedal and plowed over the rough, uneven terrain as the sound of firing began to fill the air.

On the hill, Niedziocha, Colvin, and Spivey moved forward firing their weapons as the enemy fighters would pop up, fire a few rounds, and then move right or left inside the trench to repeat the process. When Spivey ran out of ammunition in McBride's rifle, he tossed it aside, pulled his 9mm pistol, and began tossing hand grenades into the trench, as did Niedziocha. Colvin, carrying a M203 40mm grenade launcher underneath his M16A2, began accurately lobbing rounds into the trench as well.

"When one of the grenades went off," Niedziocha explained, "all I saw was turban and equipment flying, so I knew we had gotten at least one of them."

By the time the grenades starting flying, Light Horse 1-1 had pulled up and Trackwell and another Marine began moving forward and firing at the enemy while Marrone and Freeze stayed on the vehicle. Manning the 40mm 'up gun,' Freeze opened fire on Trackwell's command and lobbed 25 40mm grenades onto the hillside directly over the trench where the Taliban had taken refuge.

At almost this same instant, spotting the yellow smoke billowing from the signal grenade tossed by McBride, one of the UH-1N Huey helicopters overhead banked sharply and the door gunner, Cpl. Samair Alyassini of San Jose, Calif., let loose a sustained burst of around 100 7.62mm rounds into the trench.

Between the barrage of grenades, and rifle and machine gun from both the air and ground, the enemy fire ceased as all three Taliban fighters died where they chose to make their last stand.

"That was the closest fighting we've seen," said Colvin after the brief, yet intense firefight. "Usually we use our weapons to create a stand-off, but we weren't more than five or ten meters from these guys."

"It was the hottest fight yet," reflected Niedziocha, who had led his platoon through at least eight sharp engagements last month.

A thorough search of the slain enemy fighters revealed, in addition to their personal weapons, a wide array of explosives and bomb-making materials that are commonly used in constructed improvised explosive devices.

Discussing the wide range of armament and fighters brought to bear in the fight, Freeze summed up their collective feelings.

"It doesn't matter who got them, just that they aren't around to hurt us or anyone else ever again."

In addition to BLT 1/6 and HMM-266 (Rein), the 22nd MEU (SOC) consists of its Command Element and MEU Service Support Group 22. The MEU is in Afghanistan conducting combat and civil military operations as Task Force Linebacker.

For more information on the 22d MEU (SOC)'s role in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, visit the unit's web site at www.22meu.usmc.mil.

Maxstake

August 29, 2008 08:41 AM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Joe Dan "Doc" Worley

On September 17, 2004, while on patrol with Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, in Fallujah, Iraq, an IED exploded into a humvee killing a Marine and an Iraqi Interpreter. Not even 10 days prior, his former platoon had seven Marines killed in action when a vehicle borne IED drove into their patrol. The attrition from the blast was so severe that the platoon, known as Pale Rider Three, would be disbanded and the surviving Marines sent to other platoons in Fox Company.

Immediately reacting to the explosion, Doc Worley went into automatic pilot. No one needed to explain to this Corpsman the importance of his job after an enemy attack. Worley grabbed his aid bag and took off toward the thick smoke, preparing himself for the worst-case scenario of this close quarters explosion.

As Worley sprinted across a bridge, a secondary IED exploded only a few feet away from him, ripping off his left leg instantly. Experiencing mind-numbing pain throughout his entire body, Worley began to assess his own condition, something he had done countless times for others. He put himself through the life saving aid procedures as he had so many other times to others, when there were too many injured for one Corpsman to handle. Worley applied a tourniquet just above his own left knee, an extremely painful procedure that was vital in saving his own life.

Focusing on getting to his injured Marines who lay ahead of him, Worley refused to succumb to the overwhelming odds that were presented to him with little cover and in excruciating pain. As enemy AK-47 rounds impacted all around his position, he attempted to crawl forward toward the vehicle when again his movement was stopped, this time by the sharp twinge of five 7.62mm rounds tearing into his right leg.

What makes men like Doc Worley perform acts of uncommon valor is a steadfast dedication for the mission and undying selfless dedication to his comrades.

Having every reason to make his way to safety, Worley opted to continue his movement forward toward other wounded Marines to help them.

When his Marines were able to achieve fire superiority and control the battle space around the vehicle, and extract the injured, Worley continued to give first aid instruction in attempts to treat his buddies who were gravely wounded.

Doc Worley recently returned home to Paulding County, Georgia, after 19 months of surgeries and rehabilitation at Bethesda and Walter Reed Hospitals. Doc Worley is a passionate and articulate supporter of the mission today in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a founding member of Vets for Freedom and is currently medically retired from the Navy. For his brave actions, he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for Valor.

Maxstake

August 30, 2008 01:30 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Cpl. Carlos Gomez-Perez

Second Battalion, First Marine Regiment (2/1), First Marine Divison

Echo Company: WARHAMMER

(From MICHAEL CORONADO of The Orange County Register)

CAMP PENDLETON Ca – The armor-piercing round ripped through the right shoulder of then-Lance Cpl. Carlos Gomez-Perez, leaving a fist-sized hole.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, but the stocky, young Marine felt no pain during the April 2004 firefight.

One floor below him, as Iraqi insurgents fired relentlessly, Gomez-Perez could hear his fellow Marines shouting.

The El Cajon resident propped up his M-16 and pulled the trigger despite his bloodied chest, his thick, wide frame keeping his shoulder intact. He lobbed a grenade with his good arm.

Beside him, Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin, 21, wounded by gunfire, was losing his fight for life. Below him, the shouting continued.

"All I heard was screaming and screaming," Gomez-Perez said.

Gomez-Perez decided he would die before he would be taken prisoner and made a bold move to lead his fellow Marines, several wounded, against their attackers.

His actions that day would earn him the Silver Star for heroism in battle, awarded at a ceremony Wednesday.

Gomez-Perez was challenged in life at an early age.

When he was 9, he ran across the I-805 Freeway in San Diego County with his mother and two sisters in tow, crossing illegally into the country – a journey that started in Mexico City. By 12 he started working to earn money for the family.

His mother, Blanca Gomez, a custodian, said that on their journey north the family waded across a channel filled with water using plastic trash bags to stay dry.

"That was a very sad day because we were uncertain of what would happen," she said.

That was 15 years ago.

On Wednesday, Gomez watched a formation of Marines pay honor to her son, a fire team leader for Company E with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and listened to a general describe how a country is thankful for her boy.

"We have a true hero here," Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski told Blanca Gomez – now a legal resident – and the rest of his family. Gomez-Perez became a U.S. citizen in 2004.

Now, discharged from the Marines, he says his shoulder still hurts and finding work is difficult.

At the ceremony Wednesday at the seaside base, Gomez-Perez wore a Texas flag in his coat pocket, a tribute to Austin, who died that day from his wounds despite being revived twice, Gomez-Perez said.

"It runs through my head every day," said Gomez-Perez, who is indifferent about receiving the award. "I really don't know what it means."

Instead, he remembers the day, the fighting, the wounded and his actions.

"What could I have done differently?" he said he asks himself. "Austin - he's the one who died because I couldn't save him."

Maxstake

September 4, 2008 10:18 AM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

1st Sgt Brad Kasal

First Sgt. Brad Kasal

From Tony Perry, LA Times

CAMP PENDLETON — It has become one of the iconic pictures of the war in Iraq: blood-soaked Marine 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal, grim-faced and still clutching his service pistol, being helped from a firefight by two younger Marines.

Although wounded by seven AK-47 rounds and hit by more than 40 pieces of hot shrapnel from a grenade, Kasal refused to quit fighting and is credited with saving the lives of several Marines during the U.S. assault on insurgent strongholds in Fallouja in November 2004.

"He was hurt bad, but for the most part, he was more worried about his Marines than himself," said then-Cpl. R.J. Mitchell, one of the Marines involved in the firefight in a two-story stucco house.

Kasal has undergone 21 surgeries and months of painful rehabilitation to repair his injuries and attempt to save his right leg.

Today, the 39-year-old Iowa native will be promoted to sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps, and receive the Navy Cross for combat bravery, second only to the Medal of Honor. Only nine others have received the Navy Cross for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said Kasal "set an example for future generations of combat leaders to emulate."

The picture, taken by Lucian Read, a photographer for World Picture News who was embedded with the Marines, has been widely reprinted. It was used on the back cover of "No True Glory," an account of the fight for Fallouja by Bing West, the premier historian of Marines in combat in Iraq.

Kasal, in his second tour in Iraq, was with the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, during the assault. At the height of the fighting Nov. 13, Marines were going door to door. Insurgents were often waiting upstairs to rain down AK-47 fire and grenades.

When Kasal learned that three Marines were pinned down in one house, he and other Marines went to their aid.

Once inside the house, Kasal barked orders to younger Marines to cover vantage spots where insurgents might be hiding. He turned into one room and immediately ran into an insurgent who cried out in Arabic. The two exchanged gunfire; the insurgent missed and Kasal killed him.

Other insurgents fired at the Marines from upstairs, hitting Kasal and others. Kasal fought his way to a wounded Marine and used a tourniquet on his leg to keep him from bleeding to death. When he spotted an insurgent's grenade, he sheltered the wounded Marine with his body to protect him from the blast.

Kasal refused medical attention until other Marines were helped and made sure Marines in the street knew there were Marines inside so none would be hit by so-called friendly fire.

"Although severely wounded himself, he shouted encouragement to his fellow Marines," the Navy Cross citation states. By the time he was evacuated, Kasal had lost about 60% of his blood and was barely conscious.

Marines who knew Kasal before the fight were not surprised at his actions. "He led by example — always," said Mitchell, 26, who was wounded for the fourth time during the fight and is now medically retired from the Marine Corps and studying to be a motorcycle mechanic in Phoenix.

Kasal said the picture and the acclaim it has brought him should not overshadow the actions of other Marines in the same fight. "That house was full of heroes," he said.

Doctors initially told Kasal that his right leg below the knee was so badly mangled it might not be saved, and that subjecting himself to surgeries and rehabilitation could prove futile. Four inches of bone had been shot away.

Kasal opted against amputation, knowing that it would mean the end of his career in the Marines. "I decided to gut it out and work through the pain," he said. "I wanted to do whatever was needed to keep it going."

Six days a week, he does two to four hours of rehabilitation. Recently, the onetime high school wrestler and football player was able to run for the first time since Fallouja. "It wasn't pretty, but I was able to do it," he said.

Kasal, who is single, has been assigned to a recruiting station in Des Moines. He did three years as a recruiter in the 1990s in Minnesota, the only stretch in his 21 years in the Marine Corps in which he has not been assigned to an infantry company.

His goal is to get strong enough to return to the infantry and go back to Iraq. "We started it; we need to finish it," he said. "I believe in what we're doing. I'd go back in a heartbeat."

Maxstake

September 4, 2008 01:44 PM

Texas Sovereignty

Member Since:
February 16, 2007

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS! Forever and always.

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer." - Ecclesiastes 4:12

September 6, 2008 01:05 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Sean A. Stokes

From Kevin Ferris - Philidelphia Inquirer

From a State of the Union that won't be much quoted, a line for the military that can't be repeated enough:
"In the past year, you have done everything we've asked of you, and more. Our nation is grateful for your courage. We are proud of your accomplishments."

Take the case of one Marine, Sean A. Stokes of California. On Wednesday, his 25th birthday, he will be awarded the Silver Star for courage demonstrated during the hand-to-hand, street-fighting nightmare that was the Battle of Fallujah in November 2004.

The honor will be presented posthumously.

Stokes was killed by an IED blast on July 30, 2007, while on security detail during his third deployment to Iraq. His longtime friend Brad Adams also was injured, but survived. Stokes died in the arms of the battalion commander whose life he had saved.

Stokes' heroics on the battlefield were amply recorded in Patrick O'Donnell's book We Were One and the History Channel documentary Shootout: Fallujah. Equally impressive was his struggle to remain in uniform, to stay and fight beside his fellow Marines.

During 12 days of urban combat in Fallujah, Lima Company's First Platoon fought house by house. Stokes was on point, kicking in the doors, never knowing whether an ambush awaited.

He described the job in Shootout:

"At each house I said a prayer, 'Please, God, get me out of this one.' When I come out of the house, I thank him, light up a cigarette and move on to the next one."

He was wounded twice.

The first time was in an alley when his platoon was driven back by a grenade assault. Stokes took some shrapnel - again, with Brad Adams - but he kept up return fire, allowing his buddies to pull back safely. Stokes hid his wounds, fearing a mandatory evacuation. He wouldn't abandon his platoon.

Days later, First Platoon was entering yet another house. Lance Cpl. Philip Peterson later told O'Donnell: "There were four open doors, a stairwell, and one closed door. It was a black door on a black wall. It was the creepiest looking thing I've ever seen. Stokes and I looked at this door, and we both said: 'We'll save that one for last.' "

But the door opened and an AK47 poked out, firing at knee level. The Marines returned fire, and as the door was shut, a grenade rolled out.

The blast sent the 6-foot Stokes flying. "It was like being hit with a bowling ball," he said later. There was more enemy fire, more grenades. The Marines scrambled to get out, but another blast knocked Stokes down again. Once outside, the platoon noticed he wasn't with them.

He was on the floor of the house, firing back at an enemy that was closing in. He ran out of ammo. The enemy was still firing, still lobbing grenades his way.

Lance Cpl. Heath Kramer finally crashed through a door behind Stokes, who was woozy and disoriented from the succession of blasts, and dragged him outside.

Earning two Purple Hearts and the admiration of his peers wasn't enough to clear Stokes' record. A second tour of Iraq brought a promotion, but the threat of discharge remained. He was offered a seven-month extension, with a third deployment, but after that he would be out.

Gary Stokes advised his son to turn down the extension.

"You done your part, buddy," he told Sean. "You don't need to do any more."

He was taken aback by Sean's angry, vehement response.

"I have to support all those guys," Sean told his dad. "We have to support them all. I have to make sure I hold up my end of the bargain as long as I can."

Stokes didn't want his family to worry, so he misled them about the deployment. He said he would be aboard ship, probably in the Mediterranean.

Gary Stokes didn't learn that Sean was actually in Iraq until the knock on the door at 6:30 a.m. on July 30.

"Following your dreams shouldn't kill you, but it killed Sean. It's really just tragic," says O'Donnell, who befriended Stokes and helped draft the Silver Star recommendation.

Neither a medal, nor a nation's thanks, can compensate for such a loss or fully honor such devotion and self-sacrifice. At best, we can promise to never forget, and determine to support all those guys, to hold up our end of the bargain as long as we can.

Maxstake

September 6, 2008 01:46 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

As usual, the good news goes unreported. Not even any "nuanced" reportage.

Tremendous re-enlistment in Baghdad......never made main stream media...guess it doesn't fit with their reporting of the hollow force, poor morale, etc. For those who have been in the Al Faw Palace you'll have a better estimation of the number of people crammed in the rotunda.

Here is a reenlistment ceremony from  Baghdad on the 4th of July.
Somehow this did not make it onto network news broadcasts.
Attached are pictures of what is reputedly the 'largest re-enlistment ceremony ever held in military history'. The ceremony was held July 4, 2008 at Al Faw Palace,  Baghdad ,  Iraq . General Petraeus officiated.

A pizzeria in Chicago donated 2000 pizzas that were made (frozen), shipped on Sunday, arrived in Baghdad Wednesday and were fed to the troops on the 4th. Oh, by the way, the media did report on the 2000  pizzas...but did not report the event for which they were shipped.

--

You ask what is our aim?
I can answer in one word: victory.
Victory at all costs.
Victory in spite of all terror.
Victory however long or hard the road may be.
For without victory, there is no survival.
Winston Churchill, May 1940

Maxstake

September 8, 2008 04:17 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Sgt. Anthony Viggiani, USMC

FORWARD OPERATING BASE RIPLEY, Afghanistan, June 14, 2004 — To many of his fellow Marines in Company C, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, Sgt. Anthony Viggiani is the ideal Marine.

In the eyes of subordinates and seniors alike, the Strongsville, Ohio, native embodies those qualities that make Marines special: dedication, professionalism, strength, commitment, strong morals, and bravery. Now they have an additional quality to add to that list -- tough as nails.

During a recent firefight with anti-coalition militia in south-central Afghanistan, Viggiani's actions further elevated him in the eyes of the rest of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable).

When a pair of Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters spotted approximately 20 heavily-armed militia fighters fleeing into the hills during a cordon-and-knock operation in a nearby village, Co. C immediately pursued on foot. Leading his squad over a steep, rock-strewn mountain, Viggiani was at the head of the advance when they came under heavy enemy rifle fire.

"The rounds just started pouring in," he said later that day, "and we weren't really sure where they were coming from."

On the slope opposite the valley below him, approximately 100 meters away, Viggiani and his Marines watched as two other Marines, Cpl. Randy Wood and Lance Cpl. James Gould, were wounded by enemy rifle fire.

Aware that the fire was coming from the slope in front of him, Viggiani pressed forward cautiously when he and 1st Sgt. Ernest Hoopii came under concentrated fire themselves.

The 24-year-old Viggiani then found he was mere feet from the cave housing the enemy sniper still firing at Wood and Gould, who had since taken cover behind a too-small rock.

"I was able to look down a break in the rocks and saw a bit of cloth move, so I got off three or four shots and then dropped the [fragmentation grenade]," said Viggiani.

Combined with rifle and machine-gun fire from Wood and Gould's squad, the grenade explosion silenced the enemy position, which was later found to have housed three militia fighters.

Sometime during the fight, Viggiani was struck in the lower left leg by an enemy bullet, fired by fighters further up the valley. Seemingly unmindful of the wound, Viggiani continued to engage the enemy with rifle fire until the area was cleared and a total of four dead and one wounded enemy fighters were found.

Mere minutes after the fight, with typical Marine élan, Viggiani dismissed the wound that stained the front of his trouser leg a deep crimson.

"It stings a bit, but it's nothing," he said as he paused for a photograph in front of the cave he helped clear mere minutes after the fight.

Despite recommendations from his fellow Marines, Viggiani refused to leave his platoon and seek aid at the battalion landing team's mobile command post. With a small dressing and a few aspirin, Viggiani shouldered his rifle and trudged further into the rugged mountains in pursuit of Taliban and militia fighters.

By U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit

Maxstake

September 10, 2008 12:57 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

The only explination for the town's actions is that they are all Secular Progressive Communists, like those that control San Francisco and have infected all levels of government, city, county, state and federal.

Maxstake

JC Matteson

(James Matteson, father of fallen hero JC Matteson, is a proud member of Vets for Freedom)

Staff Sergeant James “JC” Matteson
United States Army
2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry “Ramrods”
3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division “Big Red One”

Before becoming a scout in the Army’s famed First Infantry Division, known widely as “The Big Red One”, JC Matteson grew accustomed to standing apart from his peers. A gifted athlete attending South Western high school outside of his hometown of Celorn, New York, Matteson was a star football player, but more notably known for his gregarious personality, steadfast loyalty and infectious sense of humor. While joining Task Force 2-2 Infantry out of Vilseck, Germany, Matteson became part of a second family of scouts, tankers and infantrymen that all grew close together through two consecutive foreign deployments in less than 24 months. His 2-2 Infantry spent nine months in Kosovo as they readied for their year long deployment to Iraq’s Diyala province in the winter of 2004.

Preparing themselves for the massive takedown of the Zarqawi held fortress that the city of Al Fallujah had become in November of 2004, SSG JC Matteson, the son of former Army tanker and Vets for Freedom member, James Matteson, would be the tip of the spear of the Army’s ever growing responsibilities in the assault.

Minutes into the fighting, SSG Matteson was only meters away when his TF 2-2 IN lost its Command Sergeant Major Steven Faulkenberg to an enemy sniper. As a gunner for his platoon sergeants humvee, SSG Matteson had volunteered to maintain this duty as to allow others to take advantage of their two week Rest and Relaxation leave.

On the night of November 11, 2004 three of his scouts entered, in an attempt to clear, an insurgent occupied structure at OBJ Lion. All three scouts were shot immediately upon entering the barricaded structure. Without hesitation, SSG Matteson tossed a smoke grenade allowing concealment as he personally helped ensure the scouts were evacuated for treatment. In the melee and only feet away, he exchanged gunfire and his continuous area suppression allowed needed time for his peers to establish a deliberate counter attack on the structure, ultimately ending with the building’s collapse and all insurgents inside pacified.

SSG Matteson had ample time to get down from his turret and allow the Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M1A2 Abram tanks to take the lead in the fight to repel the ambush. Soldiering as he did the day previous, SSG Matteson stood firm and returned fire under withering enemy machine gun suppression. His weapon system was heard firing accurately and consistently, until a lone rocket launched from close quarters took this young American patriots life. Many on the ground confirmed that SSG Matteson engaged the insurgent before and after the RPG was launched, further demonstrating this NCO’s dedication and passion for his scouts and comrades. The courage demonstrated that early morning on November 12, 2004 earned SSG Matteson a nomination for the Silver Star, a Bronze Star and a purple heart for outstanding valor in the face of imminent danger.

Recently in his hometown of Celorn, New York, his father James Matteson took his own money to construct a memorial in the small villages’s Memorial park. A fight ensued that would later prove to show how partisan politics can attempt to tarnish the legacy of a true hero. Against the wishes of the citizens of Celoron and all who knew him, the town’s leadership decided that they would rather pay tribute to Celoron’s famous daughter Lucille Ball, rather than allow Mr. Matteson to honor his hero son. Over a period of six agonizing months, backpedaling under petty excuses while causing unnecessary pain to JC’s family and friends, the town refused to allow a war memorial to be constructed in the memory of JC Matteson. Instead, they worked feverishly to use the grounds of the Memorial park to begin construction of a bandstand in the memory of Desi Arnez the late husband of the comedian Lucille Ball.

Finally finding a home in neighboring Jamestown, New York, Mr. Matteson has not only shared his son’s memorial with his community, but has also paid tribute to other Task Force 2-2 soldiers killed in action in Iraq as well as using his son’s memorial to honor other fallen veterans from Celoron who died in previous wars.

Mr. James Matteson is member and supporter of Vets For Freedom. We honor his commitment to our troops and the memory of his son, SSG JC Matteson.

Maxstake

September 10, 2008 01:07 PM

Pastor Carmen A. Cantalupo

Member Since:
April 16, 2007

God Bless all are Men And Women. They are all Hero's

Hello everyone

September 13, 2008 11:41 AM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Juanita Wilson

Sergeant First Class Juanita Wilson is already a patriot for what happened to her and her unit while serving in Iraq. What happened after is what makes SFC Wilson a remarkable inspiration. SPC Wilson, serving with the Army Reserve 411th Engineering Battalion based out of Hilo, Hawaii, was seriously wounded when her convoy was ambushed by a roadside bomb and rocket propelled grenade attacked in August of 2004. After losing her left arm in the attack, SFC Wilson repeatedly focused her concern and efforts on other injured members of her convoy and unit until help finally arrived.

That selfless dedication to others and her commitment to her nation didn’t end on that Iraqi road in August 2004. After returning to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, she went through extensive rehabilitation and had time to reflect on her many options. Throughout continued painful surgeries and long hours of intense rehabilitation, Wilson persevered with the same Warrior ethos she showed in the summer of 2004. Not only has she started a new chapter in life through her recovery, she continued another by reenlisting on the steps at the Capitol Building on April 6, 2006.

SPC Wilson’s complete dedication to duty in the face of devastating injuries and personal hardships make her an inspiration to the tens of thousands of service members who choose to reenlist every year to serve their country in the Global War on Terror. The Army states that two out every three eligible soldiers continue to reenlist. Going into the 3rd Quarter of the fiscal year 2006, the Army was 15% ahead of its re-enlistment goal of 34,668. And approaching May 2006 their numbers have topped 40,000.

Read About Other American Patriots:

American Patriot Profiles are posted frequently. Please check back often for updates. If you know of a patriot you would like to see profiled, please let us know.

Maxstake

September 17, 2008 01:19 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Juan Rubio

The citation accompanying his Silver Star Medal detailed how a well-emplaced and determined enemy ambushed Rubio and members of his team along the Euphrates River in a complex attack. As Rubio and an assault element swept through the ambush site, insurgents detonated an improvised explosive device. Rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun and small-arms fire followed immediately after the explosion, wounding three Marines.

Realizing the severity of the Marines’ wounds, and bleeding profusely from his own, Rubio low-crawled across open terrain, exposing himself to enemy fire to provide triage. Simultaneously taking care of three urgent surgical casualties, Rubio coached his fellow Marines who were assisting other casualties as incoming enemy fire intensified.

After stabilizing the wounded for casualty evacuation, Rubio directed the platoon to provide covering fire as he and several Marines began moving the casualties towards safety.
Without regard for his own life, he once again exposed himself to the heavy and accurate enemy fire, moving the
Marines from the ambush site to the shoreline.

Rubio’s Silver Star Medal elevates him to a distinctively exceptional category of valor among Navy corpsmen since the commencement of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Only two others have been awarded the Silver Star, none have received the Medal of Honor, and only one hero has been presented the Navy Cross.
Rubio does not consider himself a hero, though.

While addressing the audience, he revealed who he believes are the true heroes, mentioning his two sons by name and that of the mortally wounded Marine lance corporal who shielded Rubio from 90 percent of the IED's
shrapnel during the engagement.

“When people ask me what it is like to be looked upon as a hero, I don’t see myself as such, because Joshua and Mathew and every son and daughter who’s out there and who has family members in Iraq, they’re the heroes,” he acknowledged while fighting back emotion. “They’re the ones who sacrifice their fathers and their mothers. That takes honor, courage and bravery to go home every night and pray that their fathers and mothers come home safe.
"And Brian Parrillo, this is for you, brother," he said. "Thank you for bringing me home.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, May 1, 2006 —U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan M. Rubio, 32, of San Angelo, Texas, was awarded the Silver Star Medal April 27 for conspicuous gallantry against the enemy Jan. 1, 2005, while serving as a Marine platoon corpsman in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Silver Star Medal is the U.S. Navy’s third highest award for gallantry in combat, following the Navy Cross and the nation’s highest award, the Medal of Honor.

Rear Adm. Thomas R. Cullison, commander, Navy Medicine East and commander, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va., made the presentation in front of the Naval Hospital located aboard Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas.

During the ceremony, Cullison spoke about the bond that Navy Medicine, particularly Navy corpsmen, share with Marines.

“When we serve with the Marines and the Marines are with us, it’s a relationship that you can find nowhere else,” said Cullison. “The acceptance between these two groups is like no other. The responsibility that we put on our young corpsmen in battle to perform and to save lives is incredible.”

Clarifying that point, Cullison compared the controlled environment that he and other surgeons work in with the help of many others.

“Young corpsmen who go to Field Medical Service School - usually straight out of high school - perform to save lives in combat, just as Petty Officer Rubio did, and they are amazing!” he said.

Representing the Commanding General, 1st Marine Division, Marine Maj. Gen. R. F. Natonski and Command Master Chief Kelvin Carter hand-carried the award to Texas from Camp Pendleton, Calif., and assisted Cullison with the presentation. He also brought a personal message with him for Rubio.

“I talked to all the Marines and sailors in Iraq before I left, and those back in Camp Pendleton, and they want me to tell you, ‘good job, and outstanding job!’ They are damned proud of you," he said. "Please continue what you have done for our great nation, the Marine Corps and Navy team, and also for the hospital corps community.”

Rubio had already earned the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in the Jan. 1, 2005, engagement while serving with 4th Platoon, Small Craft Company, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Marine Forces Central Command.

Maxstake

September 25, 2008 09:43 AM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

LCpl Ben Gonzalez

Vets for Freedom Member, Ben Gonzalez, recipient of the Silver Star:

Lance Cpl. Benjamin Gonzalez said he wants to start wearing shorts in public this summer, something he won’t do until he’s tattooed.

So what does he want to write on his leg?

“Freedom isn’t free.” Perhaps even a picture of the Silver Star he was awarded March 25 during a ceremony in his hometown of El Paso, Texas.

“I don’t like to show off so much, but that’s something I would like people to see,” Gonzalez said.

This way, he said, he won’t have to explain his disfigured, scarred legs to anyone or worry about being mistaken for the victim of a simple motorcycle wreck when the truth is so much more extraordinary.

Gonzalez and the rest of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, had been moving through Fallujah, Iraq, the night before taking up a position on a bridge at the northern edge of the city the morning of June 18, 2004.

From the position he shared with three other Marines along the road, Gonzalez kept watch over pedestrians until around 9:30 a.m.

“I got off post and I was actually going to go to rest and check on all my gear, and that’s pretty much when it happened,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez remembers the sound of the insurgent releasing the spoon of the old, pineapple-style grenade and the “clink” the grenade made when it hit the ground in his fighting hole.

“Unhesitatingly and with total disregard for his own personal safety, Lance Corporal Gonzalez threw himself on his fellow Marine, shielding him from the blast,” according to his award citation. But that’s not exactly how Gonzalez describes it.

Gonzalez said he was actually about to jump away from the grenade when he saw his fire team leader “sitting there without a clue.” He said he didn’t exactly “throw himself” on his team leader.

“I can’t really remember much of those details, but I guess I hugged him,” Gonzalez said.

When the grenade detonated, the team leader was unharmed, but Gonzalez, who absorbed the blast, was riddled with shrapnel.

“I got burned. It broke both of my legs and broke and fractured other parts. It messed up my nerves really bad. I have permanent trauma. I can’t feel my feet or move my ankles. I have shrapnel in my stomach, too,” Gonzalez said.

“This must have been the crappiest grenade ever made because we were all really close. The detonation was one to two feet away from my legs. If it was one of ours, it would have taken us all out.”

Gonzalez was still conscious after the blast. A corpsman gave him general anesthetic, and he was medically evacuated.

“I was told I had gone through Germany for a day and a half, but I woke up in Bethesda and thought I was still in Iraq,” said Gonzalez, referring to the National Naval Medical Center north of Washington, D.C.

Gonzalez, who is on temporary retirement and can rejoin the Corps after he heals, has not regained full mobility or feeling in his feet and legs.

But he was able to stand in formation as his Silver Star was pinned to his suit jacket by Capt. William Zirkle, who, as a first lieutenant, was Gonzalez’s commanding officer at the time of the attack.

April 10, 2006
Marine caught in grenade blast gets Silver Star
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer

Maxstake

September 29, 2008 09:37 AM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

Everone needs to see this video, it will be well worth their time.

Maxstake

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

From: Don

Subject: Reveille

This is one of the best videos I have seen in a

long time and not a word is spoken. Please be

patient watching, as it runs over 11 minutes.

Definitely worth your time. --Don

Click below:

http://video.google.Com:80/videoplay?docid=-2487638612433437293&q=Vetera

Maxstake

October 29, 2008 02:23 PM

Maxstake

Member Since:
October 4, 2007

I'm resending this to everyone to remind them that this Young American Patriot and his fellow members of the Military did not give their all so that America would elect the Marxist Imam Obama President of the United States of America.

Please give this the broadest distribution possible.

Maxstake

Sean A. Stokes

From Kevin Ferris - Philidelphia Inquirer

Maxstake

American Heros

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