Hat Tip to Kat and Mustang

As we sit down today to enjoy the company of family and friends and a special meal, let us call to remembrance and give thanks to our troops serving abroad in dangerous territories to preserve our freedom, and let us also include their families and loved ones and friends to our thanksgivings.

In tribute, I am posting what I believe to be two examples of the nobility of our finest and a reminder of the ultimate price that some have paid on our behalf.

1) Semper fidelis usque ad mortem*

Just days before he left for his second tour, Marc sent a letter to his family that would be his epitaph:

Due to our deep desire to finish the job we started, we fight and sometimes die so that our families don’t have to. Stand beside us because we would do it for you. Because it is our unity that’s enabled us to prosper the nation.

The article goes on to observe that for all that his father may now represent to others, to Christian, Dad is the man who spent time with him and who was teaching him about being a soldier. “He was a hero…he helped our country and tried to stop terrorists,” Christian said.

Marc Golczynski’s commitment to his country has left his son fatherless. But that son still dreams of growing up one day and becoming a Marine.

* “Alway faithful even unto death” - see also Revelation 2:10

2) A general lays down his rank for his troops

I’ll be back later to finish. More details on General Pace at Theodore’s blog.

Two “Haditha” Marines will face Courts Martial:

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two Marines were ordered Friday to face courts-martial for their roles in the killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani faces charges of dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order for allegedly failing to accurately report and investigate the Nov. 19, 2005, killings of 24 Iraqis.

Chessani is the most senior U.S. serviceman since the Vietnam War to face a court-martial for actions or decisions made in combat, said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center.

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum faces a court-martial on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.

The decision by Lt. Gen. James Mattis to send Tatum to court-martial comes after the investigating officer said last month that the evidence was too weak to prosecute him. But Tatum will not be tried on the murder count he originally faced.

The Marines now stand before their peers in the Military Justice System. It will up to this process to determine innocence or guilt. I stand with the two Marines involved and I believe Lance Corporal Tatum is innocent. The process isn’t over. They have not been proven guilty of any crimes. I have faith in the UCMJ to come to the right conclusion in these cases.

Some people put their money where their mouth is.

I don’t care for Rush Limbaugh. I never have and never will. But I do respect his latest act and give him much credit. Too bad we don’t see this from the left.

Other people put their money where their mouth is, in very different ways:

Richard Junod is coming out of retirement.

He spent years as a teacher and administrator. First as a Marine instructor, and later in Philadelphia, serving in places ranging from from juvenile-detention facilities to charter schools in his 32-year career.

But Doc - as he’s known because of his doctorate in education - isn’t returning to the classroom. He’s on the road. Running. For hours on end, including a recent 20-miler, all in training for his sixth marathon.

At age 66, this isn’t for fun or a personal-best time. He achieved that in Chicago in 1999, coming in at 3:59:16.

“I’d always wanted to do a marathon in under four hours,” he says. “I did, and I swore, ‘Never again.’ ” As he says, it’s time to “undo that swear.”

So Junod and the team of friends and relatives he’s recruited are training for the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 28. It’s a scenic but grueling 26.2 miles that takes runners past most of the major monuments in Washington and neighboring Virginia. The finish line, appropriately enough, is the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, a.k.a. the Iwo Jima statue.

And at that statue, the Willing Few, as Junod has branded his team, will turn over the money they’ve raised to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. Started three years ago, the fund helps wounded Marines, sailors and their families with expenses incurred while visiting loved ones undergoing care or during rehabilitation and transition. It also contributes to the purchase of specialized equipment, home renovations or adapted vehicles.
[...]
Send checks made out to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (with “The Willing Few” on the memo line) to Richard J. Junod, 13046 Richwood Rd., Philadelphia 19116.

Awesome eh?

The Semper Fi Fund is one of my priorities. I give. Regularly. As in payroll deduction- every two weeks 20%, that’s TWENTY, percent of my earnings are donated to this great organization. I fully support all the programs and efforts of the fund; I’ve been giving for over two years now. It’s not a huge amount of money, but it’s what I can do. I also donate to other causes- here and there as I can afford. In a strange way, I shortchange myself in order to continue my giving. It’s a personal thing to me- and it’s the right thing to do. Taking care of our own- nothing is more American than that.

How much have you donated recently?

NOW that was FAST. MARSOC Marines will not face charges.

Charges will no longer be pursued against a company of Marines who were yanked out of Afghanistan by a three-star general on suspicion of criminal wrongdoing, a lawyer involved in the case said yesterday.

Defense attorney Mark Waple said he was informed late Wednesday that the case was being referred to a court of inquiry, which would limit itself to examining the actions of three Marine officers.

A court of inquiry, the Navy’s highest-level administrative investigatory body, is rarely convened and “is not a criminal proceeding,” said a spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command.

And:

“No charges have been preferred, so the purpose of the court of inquiry is to review and evaluate the facts and evidence” of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service findings, said Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command.

“Bottom line, this is an administrative fact-finding body,” said the spokesman. But the investigation into the Marines’ conduct will not be officially closed until Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command, decides the “disposition of the incident,” he said.

The decision not to go ahead with criminal charges against the Marines has led to a small sigh of relief within the Special Forces community.

Most excellent. We cannot send the boys to fight, and then tell them after their fighting was “criminal”…no no. It doesn’t work that way, in spite of what the leftist media and others want.

Marines who are members of the elite MARSOC are coming under investigation.

A little history:

A spokesman for Lt. Gen. Frank Kearney, who is under fire from military rank and file for bringing homicide charges against two soldiers who had already been cleared, said yesterday the general had acted only to clarify the situation after two investigations produced conflicting results.

Rep. Walter B. Jones, North Carolina Republican, has called on Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to open an investigation into the actions of the general, who has irked soldiers and Marines with the charges against a two-man Special Forces sniper team in Afghanistan
[...]
“Lieutenant General Kearney determined the best way to resolve the inconsistency was to prefer charges and send the case to an impartial, experienced Special Forces officer who could review the results and evidence of both investigations and make a recommendation,” he said.

Regarding the case of the Marine Special Operations Command (Marsoc) Fox Company, which was accused by Afghans of shooting indiscriminately at civilians along a roadside, the colonel said “there is not a lot that we can clarify prior to the completion of the Marsoc court of inquiry.”

Leave it an Army Lt. General to mess this up.

Now the Marine Corps is taking over the investigation as it should have in the first place:

CAMP PENDLETON — The Marines will convene a special court of inquiry where officers will determine the facts behind a controversial March 4 shooting in Afghanistan where Marines allegedly killed as many as 19 civilians, the Marine Corps announced today.

The inquiry, which is not a criminal proceeding, was ordered by Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis and will be held at the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

At least three officers will review and evaluate evidence and send a recommendation to Mattis, commander of Marine Forces Central Command, on how the case should proceed.

“The U.S. military has a long tradition of using courts of inquiry to investigate matters involving major incidents that may include possible misconduct by U.S. military personnel,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.

The inquiry, to be comprised of senior officers with combat experience, is expected to take two weeks. No date has been set.

The Marines cited in the incident were from the Marine Special Operations Unit. Some Afghans said the Marines opened fire recklessly at civilians while traveling in a convoy; lawyers for the Marines say they were returning fire from an ambush.

The shooting occurred in a region near the Afghan-Pakistan border where U.S. troops have been trying to win the support of tribal members in the fight against resurgent forces of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The Marines had only been in the country a few weeks. Their conduct has been severely criticized by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

After the shooting, all 120 members of the Marine Special Operations Unit were ordered by the Army to return to the U.S., which set off a rift between the Army and the Marine Corps. The latter felt the Army had prejudged the Marines as guilty without hearing the evidence.

We’ll let the boys battle this all out; I will say that I am leaning very hard towards supporting the Marines once again; after all, the “crimes” of Haditha have proved to be not as the media portrayed, or as John Murtha claimed…I suspect the same situation exists in this case. The media keeps looking for it’s “Defining Moment” of this war and they seem to highlight our Marines every time. Problem is, the Marines are just doing their jobs. The media doesn’t GET IT. Part of the job is to kill enemies. Since our enemies use civilians as decoys, these things happen.

Anyway, stay tuned.

I’m not questioning the patriotism of this Marine.

An Open Letter to the US Marine Corps about 9/11
Madison, WI (OpEdNews) 12 September 2007 - Smedley Butler didn’t like for the Marine Corps to be abused, and neither do I. Indeed, I can’t think of a more serious issue than whether or not Uncle Sam is taking advantage of us to benefit the profit margins of American corporations, the very charge alleged in his book, War is a Racket. Today those corporations even include Halliburton, whose former CEO is well-positioned to benefit it from the inside as Vice President of the United States. Is there any reason to think that history is repeating itself and the Corps is being abused once again?
[...]
After resigning my commission as Captain, USMC, in 1966, I earned a Ph.D. in the history and the philosophy of science. I would spend 35 years teaching courses in logic critical thinking, and scientific reasoning. Along the way, I would become deeply involved in research on the assassination of JFK and publish three collections of studies by experts on that case. Then, in 2005, I would found a non-partisan society of students, experts, and scholars devoted to exposing falsehoods and revealing truths about 9/11, which is known as Scholars for 9/11 Truth. Our membership includes aeronautical engineers, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, pilots, physicists, and even some philosophers and theologians committed to the truth.

But I am questioning his sanity. Read the entire letter- you’ll walk away shaking your head and wondering how such a man ever earned the uniform of the Few and The Proud.

A little brief about this letter:
Mr. Fetzer submitted this op/ed to the Marine Corps GAZETTE- which denied publishing the article. Marines have standards, and the rants of raving lunatic are not one of them Mr. Fetzer. Get a life. Move on.

The mother of one of my patients (a Marine) pointed me to this article this morning. She was quite upset with the portrayal of wounded soldiers and Marines in the manner presented in this story…and her words resonate strongly:

“Be grateful they have memories of their battles. I would give anything including my own life for my son to remember.”

TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) - He was one of America’s first defenders on Sept. 11, 2001, a Marine who pulled burned bodies from the ruins of the Pentagon. He saw more horrors in Kuwait and Iraq.

Today, he can’t keep a job, pay his bills, or chase thoughts of suicide from his tortured brain. In a few weeks, he may lose his house, too.

Gamal Awad, the American son of a Sudanese immigrant, exemplifies an emerging group of war veterans: the economic casualties.
[...]
“The wounded and their families no longer trust that the government will take care of them the way they thought they’d be taken care of,” says veterans advocate Mary Ellen Salzano.

How does a war veteran expect to be treated? “As a hero,” she says.

Not all soldiers and Marines will agree with this. A great many of them would prefer not to be known as heroes. My work is with profoundly brain injured young people- teenagers, young adults and we serve some wounded Marines now. You learn a lot about human strength through the struggles these families must endure. And like my patient’s Mom says- theres a fine line between garnering sympathy and expecting the government to fix every problem, vs. taking charge of your own problems and working towards a solution. The battle of recovery can be optimistic or pessimistic. Most people find a balance- they mourn what they have lost, yet they are also grateful for what they have.

Every morning, Awad needs to think of a reason not to kill himself.

He can’t even look at the framed photograph that shows him accepting a Marine heroism medal for his recovery work at the Pentagon after the terrorist attack.

It might remind him of a burned woman whose skin peeled off in his hands when he tried to comfort her.

He tries not to hear the shrieking rockets of Iraq either, smell the burning fuel, or relive the blast that blew him right out of bed.

The memories come steamrolling back anyway.

“Nothing can turn off those things,” he says, voice choked and eyes glistening.

You know, when I read lines like this, I lose respect and sympathy…does that make me cruel or cold? I don’t think so. Mr. Awad should realize he is lucky to be alive. He should visit with some of my patients- who are alive, but who have lost it all. My patients who have little to no recollection of their personhood- or their family and friends. They who have lost portions of their brain yet manage to breathe and who are kept alive by machines.

When the time comes for the machines to stop doing the work, many of my patients continue to live, but they are never ever going to be the person they were prior to their injuries. As mean as it sounds, the Mom made reference to the sad thought she had- where she wishes her son would be able to express feelings and suicidal ideation. She would give almost anything for her son to express his thoughts, to cry, to have emotions and to feel anger.
She hasn’t heard her sons voice in 5 months. Chances are very high she never will hear him speak again either.

He stews alternately over suicide and finances, his $43,000 in credit card debt, his $4,330 in federal checks each month - the government’s compensation for his total disability from post-traumatic stress disorder. His flashbacks, thoughts of suicide, and anxiety over imagined threats - all documented for six years in his military record - keep him from working.

The disability payments don’t cover the $5,700-a-month cost of his adjustable home mortgage and equity loans. He owes more on his house than its market value, so he can’t sell it - but he may soon lose it to the bank.

“I love this house. It makes me feel safe,” he says.

Awad could once afford it. He used to earn $100,000 a year as a 16-year veteran major with a master’s degree in management who excelled at logistics. Now, at age 38, he can’t even manage his own life.

Sometimes people take advantage of post traumatic stress syndrome and all the havoc it can wreck. Other times people blame their already present problems and use a newly DX PTSD as an excuse. It’s very difficult to differentiate from the real honest life altering problems PTSD can create. Is it up to our government, the VA and military, to cover the expenses of those who are taking advantage? I think not. My patient’s Mom was extremely irate about this because, again, she would move mountains to hear her son complain about his finances.

There’s another twist. This dedicated Marine was given a “general” discharge 15 months ago for an extramarital affair with a woman, also a Marine. That’s even though his military therapists blamed this impulsive conduct on post-traumatic stress aggravated by his Middle East tours.

Luckily, his discharge, though not unqualifiedly honorable, left intact his rights to medical care and disability payments - or he’d be in sadder shape.

Hmm…Problems in marriages are forever present; and yes the separation of wars and battles can amplify them. An act of infidelity could be called impulsive…but a longer term “affair” cannot. We make choices, and we know the possible outcomes of our actions for most choices we make. Mr. Awad is trying to pass the buck here, and I’m pretty shocked his therapists have helped him along. In my opinion he is certainly taking advantage now.

Divorced since developing PTSD, Awad has two daughters who live elsewhere. He spends much of his days hoisting weights and thwacking a punching bag in the dimness of his garage. He passes nights largely sleepless, a zombie shuffling through the bare rooms of his home in sunny California wine country.

Few anticipated the high price of caring for Awad and other veterans with deep, slow-healing wounds.

Awad needs to just deal. He needs to get a grip and stop blaming everyone for his own problems, and especially he needs to stop expecting the government to bail him out. He’s lost much, yes. But he’s brought a lot of this upon himself. Whether he was rational or not isn’t in the running here- hes become a loose cannon in his own battle. He can change his course if he wants. He can become the man he once was- he has all his parts and most importantly, he has his brain, his mind. So many others do NOT.

Millions of fine men have seen much worse than he has; millions of men have been to war, come home, canned their battlefield memories and moved on with life. Some suggest repressing those memories is not a good thing. Maybe. But men have the ability to do this and do it well. My own father was a WW 2 veteran, who saw a lot of action, he saw entire ships blown up and men’s bodies strewn across the oceans in bits and pieces…he lost many friends. He also bared witness to the horrors of the concentration camps as they were found in the days right before that war ended. He didn’t dwell upon the sights and scents; he didn’t speak of these things often. He got on with his life, enjoyed that life and made a good name for himself.

Compare the young Marine who lost half of his brain to an IED in Iraq…who is alive, barely and whose body is merely a shell of what he once was; he who cannot look around because his neck is paralyzed. The once strong and handsome young man who had a beautiful and sexy girlfriend- that he bragged about to his buddies and shared tales of lust over. When he sees her picture, the only reaction might be a tear. The young man who has no control over his bodily functions, who cannot eat orally, who will never walk, talk, make love, dance or drive or have children. Never mind the career, the house, the worries about finances, the dreams he had of his life…and God only knows what his nightmares might be like now.

Mr. Awad needs to stop taking advantage of the problems he calls insurmountable. The mind is a terrible thing to waste Mr. Awad; but it’s even worse when its taken away from you. He really needs to meet my Marine patient and his Mother - and take stock of what’s truly a loss.

Stand tall Murtha. Be a Marine and do the right thing.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case against Rep. John P. Murtha and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition in the case.

A Marine Corps sergeant accuses the 16-term congressman of falsely accusing him of “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” in connection with the deaths of Iraqi civilians.

The Justice Department wanted the case dismissed because Murtha was acting in his official role as a lawmaker. Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Henault said the comments were made as part of the debate over the war in Iraq.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer said the congressman might be right, but said she won’t know for sure unless Murtha explains himself. She did not set a date for Murtha’s testimony but said she would also require him to turn over documents related to his comments.

Collyer said she was troubled by the idea the lawmakers are immune from lawsuits regardless of what they say to advance their political careers.

I am troubled too- and Murtha has some answering to do. If he were half the Marine he claims to be, we wouldn’t even be at this point. Murtha owes his fellow Marines and the American people an explanation for his strong and damaging words. And he better have some good reasons for making the statements he made. I’m also concerned that our Justice Dept. has taken sides here with Murtha and tried to prevent his testimony.

Going through my USMC email alerts, I came across this cool article: I didn’t watch Gomer Pyle when it was popular- I never even heard of him until I was grown up and on my own…but I do have a DVD set with most of the shows.

HONOLULU — Hawaii resident and longtime entertainer Jim Nabors enjoyed a special honor on Tuesday night from the U.S. Marine Corps for his character Gomer Pyle.

The television show Gomer Pyle USMC premiered in 1964. Gomer Pyle was a bumbling but lovable private who put a humorous and human face on the U.S. Marine Corps.
[...]
The Marines said Gomer Pyle embodied qualities Marines respect: honesty, loyalty and devotion to duty.

“What’s Gomer think about this? Well golly!” Nabors said.

Those qualities are lacking in most of todays members of Congress, thats for sure!

Speaking of the Marines, Mustang sent me this last evening:

Who needs San Fransisco for a back drop of a commercial? Not the Marines.

Charges have been dismissed against another Marine involved with the Haditha events of Nov. 2005.

A U.S. Marine company commander who led the unit that killed as many as 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq, has had all criminal charges against him dismissed nearly two years after the shootings occurred.

Marine Corps officials announced yesterday that Capt. Lucas M. McConnell no longer faces two counts of dereliction of duty in allegedly not investigating the Nov. 19, 2005, shootings and not reporting up his chain of command. Three senior officers above McConnell received administrative punishments this month for their own actions and inactions after the incident.

The three senior Marines were censored.

The dismissal of the charges, officially dated Sept. 12, amounts to a full exoneration for McConnell, who was one of four officers charged with crimes related to the aftermath of the shootings.

As it should be: A full exoneration. This is a good thing.

Yesterday much ado was made of one John Coward Murtha, the NON Marine who has yet to apologize for his accusations before evidence and trial, against Marines. Murtha was confronted and asked why he hasn’t expressed an apology…Murtha’s not a Marine so he feels no need to be sorry.

In emails and comments left here and there I expressed a saying that my X has always proclaimed:

God has a special place for Marines in Heaven. But before they get there they have to meet with their real makers first: Sergeant Major Daly; then the one and only Major General John A. Lejeune; then, as a final test they must meet with Chesty.

Everyone knows who Chesty is ( and for those who don’t, GOOGLE it)- and every Marine certainly knows of Chesty. In some joking around in emails came this fun from one of Chesty’s famous quotes:

“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time”

What would Murtha say to this?? –> “Where’s the white flag???”

GM has it all figured out- what would Chesty say to Murtha these days…go have a laugh.

Came across this video today and absolutely had to post it. The song is by a Nashville duo called Waycross. Better get some tissues first…

Here is the link to their MySpace page.

Here are the lyrics (h/t Hooah Mac at RedState):

Nineteen
The number on his back, Voted captain of his high school football team
Took us all the way to state, got a scholarship to play down in Tennessee
He could run, he could duck, he could throw, he could go like you’ve never seen
Nineteen

But on the day those twin towers came down his whole world turned around
He told em all, ya’ll I can’t play ball there’s a war on now
So he marched right in with a few good men, and joined the Marines
At Nineteen

Well he’s the boy next door, might have carried your bags at the grocery store
He’s somebody’s son, in a hole with a gun, in a foreign land
Try’ in to hold on to his American dream
Nineteen

There’s a sniper out there in the dark somewhere, and a solider down
Ya we need someone who can duck and run to get him out some how
Want one good man to raise his hand, and take one for the team
Well how bout you Nineteen

Well he’s the boy next door, he used to carry your bags at the grocery store
He’s somebody’s son, in a hole with a gun, in a foreign land
Try’ in to hold on to his American dream
Nineteen

Brought him home today with a big parade down on main street
Got a purple heart and a silver star, solider gave a speech
Said he could run, he could duck, he could throw, he’s the one who rescued me
He said he could have played for Tennessee
Number Nineteen
He was Nineteen

Three senior Marines have been censured as a result of their not initiating an investigation into the Haditha events.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - A major general and two senior officers have been disciplined for their roles in investigating the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, former commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, has received a letter of censure from the secretary of the Navy for the “actions he took and failed to take” in response to the killings.

The statement from the Marine Corps does not elaborate.

Col. Stephen W. Davis and Col. Robert G. Sokoloski also received letters of censure.

Davis was cited for failure to take action when informed of the slayings. Sokoloski was cited for unsatisfactory performance of his duties.

“Accountability and responsibility are the foundation of all we do as Marines,” said Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps.

“While these three officers have served their country and corps exceedingly well for decades, their actions, inactions and decisions in the aftermath of the Haditha incident did not meet the high standards we expect of Marine senior officer leadership,” Conway said.

In retrospect had these Marines done their job we wouldn’t be where we are now. The media wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on with this Haditha story; and importantly the junior Marines charged with murder, wouldn’t be under the gun right now. John Murtha still owes all of them an apology.

Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Johnson, former commanding general of II Marine Expeditionary Force, was fully exonerated, the Marine Corps statement said.

Good.

The disciplinary action came as a preliminary hearing continued in the Haditha case for Staff. Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., who is accused of unpremeditated murder in the slaying of 17 of the Iraqis.

Wuterich has acknowledged shooting five men who were at the scene of the bomb blast but claims he did so because they were running from the site of the explosion. Combat rules at the time allowed Marines to shoot at people fleeing the scene of an attack.

Capt. Alfonso Capers, to whom Wuterich reported for about two years before the killings, struggled for an answer in military court when Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the investigating officer overseeing the Haditha case, asked how Marines are trained to confront mixed crowds of enemies and civilians.

“Is there a schoolbook answer?” Ware asked.

“There’s not,” Capers replied.

Really? Some of us know this but it’s obvious others do not. And many feel that when ground combat conditions exist and civilians are in the area, enemies should be allowed to go unharmed. The fact the more Marines would have been killed (as well as more civilians) means nothing; a living enemy is worth more than a self defending living Marine. The sacrifices are acceptable when its the life of a Marine; when enemies die it’s a crime.

UPDATE:
HERE is one of those people who believe that enemies who hide among civilians, who dress like and act like them, should live while our Marines stand by helpless, and die as a result of more attacks. Stinking Feat need to be washed. In bleach.

I have barely been here this week and it’s because I’ve been BUSY.

I’m moving.
I’m working some extra shifts.
I moved two daughters back to their college dorms.
I’m a little stressed with it all too…it’s all good- by Monday I will be all settled in, hopefully with the Internet connection active.

Meanwhile, this doesn’t surprise me:

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A Marine accused of murdering Iraqi civilians, including children, in the town of Haditha should have all charges dropped against him because of weak evidence, an investigating officer recommended on Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, 26, is charged with unpremeditated murder of two girls and negligent homicide on suspicion that he unlawfully killed two men, a woman and a boy. He is also accused of assaulting another boy and a girl.

The investigating officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, said the evidence was too weak for a court-martial. Tatum, of Edmond, Okla., shot and killed civilians, but “he did so because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder,” Ware wrote.

“I believe … Tatum’s real life experience and training on how to clear a room took over and his body instinctively began firing while his head tried to grasp at what and why he was firing,” Ware wrote. “By the time he could recognize that he was shooting at children, his body had already acted.”

Ware’s recommendation is nonbinding. Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general overseeing the case, has final say about whether Tatum will be court-martialed.

As always, I STAND WITH THE MARINES of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment…no matter what. They are innocent of war crimes. Gen. Mattis, so far as evidenced by his dismissal of other charges against the other Marines, AGREES.

Another Marine article came to me via an alert:

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A Marine drill instructor has been charged with 225 criminal counts connected to abusing recruits, a Marines spokesman said Thursday.

In one incident, Sgt. Jerrod M. Glass allegedly ordered a recruit to jump head-first into a trash can and then pushed him further into the container, according to court documents cited in The San Diego Union-Tribune. He is also accused of striking recruits with a tent pole and a heavy flashlight.

Hmm…I have to wonder how much of this is based upon the words of some liberal minded, ABUSE sensitive young man? There’s a saying:
THEY DON’T MAKE THEM LIKE THAT ANYMORE.
This is the fact when it comes to today’s young people- they aren’t the same as my generation. Abuse? They don’t know the meaning of the word. My X was a Drill Instructor for years; then he went on the Instruct the DI’s…a true Master Gunny. When he saw this article he laughed and said:
“Since when is this abuse? This was part of boot camp back in the day. And once you were in the trash can, they rolled you around the barracks. This is what made boot camp so FUN!”
He also said todays kids need to toughen up a little or we will never win any wars.

And finally, something I totally missed about the USMC:
Wha??? The Dept. of the Navy AND MARINE CORPS????

The Marine Corps is the Men’s department of the Department of the Navy. what else do we need.

Says Michael, and he’s absolutely correct.

I’ve been following the issues Marines face with health care related services, for a couple years now. First, at Camp LeJeune they opened the Wounded Warrior Barracks (Maxwell House); then recently we saw this model repeated at Camp Pendleton. The Marines stepped up the “Wounded Warrior Regiment” - the first of it’s kind for all the services. I was concerned with how this would work- the command structure and similar worries. I shouldn’t have been. This is the Marines, after all.

The Marine Corps had been providing support to our Marines in some of these areas prior to the regiment, yet as Col. Boyle states, “while there was unity of effort, there was not a unity of command”. With the WWR, one unit will be accountable for tracking down and meeting the needs of wounded Marines and their families. The regiment will have at its disposal the following resources to accomplish its mission - both wounded warrior battalions, District Injured Support Centers, the Marine for Life Program, VA Hospital liaisons and the patient administrative teams (PATs). Boyle expects the WWR to have 100 active duty and active Reserve Marines, some civilian personnel and 150 Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs).

Currently, the Corps has more than 400 injured or ill Marines and Sailors on the regiment’s rolls. Yet the WWR realizes that most of the Marines seriously wounded since the start of the war are now discharged and spread across the country - and many still need help. To meet this need, the WWR is developing what are being called “District Injured Support Units” (DISU). These are 10 teams of two Marines, one Officer and one Staff NCO, whose job it will be to make monthly phone calls to offer assistance to Marines injured since 2001. Key point: The Marine Corps is wisely using its own personnel and thereby legally bypassing the legal restrictions imposed by the Privacy Act to directly assist or pass charity information on to Marines/ Former Marines spread across the country, who still need the help.

Efficient, lean and mean. With a mission. It can’t go wrong…That’s the Marine Corps way.

And how are the charities working on behalf of our Marines? VERY WELL.

# Mobility equipment - such as Ibot wheelchairs and modified vans
# Transitional housing for Marines and married Marine Families
# Support for the Wounded Warriors Barracks
# Scholarships for Marine Spouses, Wounded Marines and children of wounded Marines
# Home modification - wheelchair accessibility
# Specialized equipment - based on a Marine’s disability
# Family Support/Defraying family expenses - during hospitalization/rehab.
# Therapeutic arts / Sports and outdoor programs for recovering Marines
# Counseling - grieving, PTSD, combat stress
# Post injury employment
# Providing care items to Marines in military trauma centers
# Lobbying effort for pro wounded vet legislation

That last item on the list is probably the most important- because these groups are lobbying to get better care and services, in a timely manner, to wounded Veterans and Marines. Even with all the bad publicity with Walter Reed, not much is really being done to change things. A lot of talk is happening, hot air…but not much substance.

The charities themselves, their numbers, speak:

-INJURED MARINE SEMPER FI FUND:
# % Total Expenses going to “Program Services”: 96%

-VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS-UNMET NEEDS PROGRAM:
# % Total Expenses going to “Program Services”: 95%

-HOPE FOR THE WARRIORS
# % Total Expenses going to “Program Services”: 91%

This is great. If you’re so inclined, go donate to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund…or the Hope For Warriors Program. Both are excellent and don’t waste funds on needless overhead and other dumb things.

That is one hell of a weapon… would not want to be on the receiving end of that beast….

And more good news!!

LOS ANGELES: All charges were dropped against a captain accused of failing to investigate the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha — slayings that resulted in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war, the Marine Corps announced Thursday.

Capt. Randy W. Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer, was one of four officers charged with failing to adequately probe the killings.

“It is clear to me that any error of omission or commission by Capt. Stone does not warrant action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Lt. Gen. James Mattis wrote.

Yes, Murtha? We’re waiting to hear your apology to your fellow Marines.

GOOD NEWS!!

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A general dropped all charges Thursday against a Marine who had been accused of killing three Iraqi brothers in response to a roadside bomb attack in Haditha in 2005.

“The evidence does not support a referral to a court-martial,” Lt. Gen. James Mattis wrote in his written decision.

Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, had been charged with the murder in the deaths of three of those killed after the bomb attack Nov. 19, 2005.

The decision to drop the charges followed an earlier recommendation from a hearing officer who listened to evidence in the case. Under military law, a commanding general has total jurisdiction over a case.

In his recommendation, Lt. Col. Paul Ware said murder charges brought against Sharratt were based on unreliable witness accounts, poor forensic evidence and questionable legal theories.

“The government version is unsupported by independent evidence,” Ware wrote in an 18-page report. “To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.”

Now let’s clear the other Marines of this bulloney and let them move on with their lives.