Marines Sound Off About The Iraq War Options

[underbear1]

http://www.stevenzeeland.com/zeeland/marines/marines.htm

In "The Masculine Marine," Steven Zeeland interviews active-duty U.S. Marines about what it means to be a man, to be a Marine, and to desire other men. Their answers shed light on homoerotic bonding among Marines, hazing and institutional violence, how gay Marines reconcile their sexual identity with the ethos of "hard" Marine supermasculinity, Marines in all-male pornography, how Marines feel about being viewed as sex objects, and male attitudes about women in the Marine Corps. In the following excerpts, "Captain Eric" (aka "R", as featured on the cover of The New York Times Sunday Magazine) takes issue with the gay stereotype that "all Marines are bottoms."

[Beamer]

June 28, 2005 | Members of a US Marine honor guard carry the casket of Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas Keeling, 23, past family members into Saint John Neumann Church Tuesday, in Strongesville, Ohio. Keeling died in an explosion in Haqlaniyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.
(Photo: Tony Dejak / AP)

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jason Wittling, who was injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom, meets with Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Sherman Dec. 13, 2003, before a game against the Chargers.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Daniel Raifsnider

U S. Marine Corps
Sgt. Jason Wittling
Injured OIF Vet Hits Locker Room with Packers
By John Raifsnider / Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Dec. 12, 2003 -- It is probably a safe bet to say that Marine Sgt. Jason Wittling won't soon forget the weekend of Dec. 12-14, 2003.

Friday afternoon, just minutes after his three brothers arrived at Camp Pendleton from their home state of Wisconsin, Wittling was surprised to hear the voice of his favorite NASCAR Busch Series driver, Team Marines' Bobby Hamilton Jr., on the other end of the phone.

Hamilton was apprised of Wittling's condition -- he's now a quadriplegic after an accident in Iraq -- and wanted to extend his best wishes for a speedy recovery and an invitation to join the Team Marines crew at the California race next April.

"Bobby wanted me to know that he was pulling for me and he told me not to give up," Wittling said.

"He also said I was welcomed to be his guest at the next race they have out here. He said he'd take care of everything and I'd be his personal guest. That's pretty cool."

Wittling also received an autographed poster and die-cast car from Hamilton.

The next morning, Wittling's family drove him to La Jolla, ostensibly to have brunch at the Hyatt Regency Hotel with other injured Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans.

Shortly after arriving at the hotel, Wittling said he knew something just wasn't right -- there were too many Green Bay Packers souvenirs in the family van, and his mom and brothers were decked out in their Packers-logoed clothing and hats. He figured he was there to meet someone, but didn't know whom.

Minutes later, Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre walked into the room and greeted Wittling and his family, then autographed several items for the family and posed for pictures.

Favre was followed into the room by Packers' head coach Mike Sherman, who also met with Wittling's family and had his picture taken with the injured Marine.

But that wasn't all.

Before leaving for meetings with his assistants, Sherman invited Wittling and his family to be on the Packers sideline before the game on Sunday.

"It's the least we can do for him, after all that he and the other Marines over there have done for us," Sherman said.

"They're over there protecting our freedoms so we can play football games over here. I think that if we can give him even an ounce of joy from all this, then maybe we've done something."

The invitation from Sherman resulted in a pound of happiness for Wittling, who admits to having bouts of depression over his injury. "There are days when I get to feeling a little sorry for myself, and I'm not too happy about not being able to do certain things around here," admitted Wittling. "Sometimes I just stare at my toolbox and wonder if I'm ever going to use any of my tools again. That kind of bums me out a little."

Sunday morning Wittling was wheeled to the Green Bay sideline where, once again, his favorite NFL player, Favre, greeted him. "That was so cool, to be on the sidelines and to see all the Packers' players up close," Wittling recalled.

"It was really cool that he and Coach Serman took time out before the game to stop by and talk with me. I thought I might be in their way, but they seemed happy to spend the time with me. I was really surprised."

But the surprises didn't stop there.

Just before kickoff, Sherman told Wittling that if the Packers won the game against the Chargers, he would invite him into the Green Bay locker room afterward. Green Bay won 38-21 and Wittling and his older brother, Jim, were the only two non-Green Bay players or coaches initially allowed into the team's locker room.

Once inside, Sherman gathered his players around the Camp Pendleton Marine and, according to Jim Wittling, told his team: "There are a lot of football heroes in this room, but there is only one real hero -- and he's sitting right here."

With that, Sherman handed Wittling the game ball and had the Packers players stop by and sign it. "That right there overwhelmed me," said Wittling.

"Pretty soon the players were coming up to me and signing my hats and then autographing their gloves and giving them to me.

"I told them they were doing too much -- I never expected to even get to meet Brett Favre, much less go on the Packers sideline. Then to get to go into their locker room after the game -- I'm still amazed that it all happened and that they were all so genuinely nice to me."

But the outpouring of gifts and thanks from the Packers still hadn't run its course.

On his way out of the Packers locker room, Sherman summoned Wittling into his office. There, the two men shared a beer and the head coach offered to have Wittling attend Green Bay's next game against the Raiders in Oakland.

"I'm not sure that he could stand that long of a drive just yet," Jim Wittling said of his brother. "I know he'd love to go, but I think that might be just a bit too much for him right now, but we'll see."

Wittling's mother, Betty, who accompanied Jason and his three brothers to the Packers-Chargers game, says this past weekend was the happiest she has seen her son in a long time. "This whole weekend was such a blast for him. It was just great," Betty Wittling said.

"Things have been pretty rough for him lately and he really needed something to boost his spirits. Meeting his hero, Brett Favre and spending that time with Coach Sherman -- that really cheered him up. It was really good for him to be able to do that."

Jim Wittling said he has never seen his brother Jason so happy. "You should have seen him when the coach gave him the game ball," recalled Jim. "His eyes were as big as silver dollars and he was in shock by all the attention. I've never seen him so happy."

Monday morning, Jason said he couldn't remember all the things the Packers players and coaches had given him, but he said he'd always remember this past weekend.

"Just think -- I've talked with my favorite Busch Series driver, Bobby Hamilton. I met my favorite football player, Brett Favre. And we caught Saddam Hussein.

[underbear1]

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeas...ill_26_in_iraq/

Also yesterday, the US military promised a full investigation into a June 25 incident in which Iraq's UN ambassador, Samir Sumaidaie, said Marines killed his unarmed 21-year-old cousin in ''cold blood" in Anbar province.

Sumaidaie said his cousin, Mohammed Sumaidaie, took Marines doing house-to-house searches to a bedroom to show them where a rifle that had no live ammunition was kept. When the Marines left, he was found in the bedroom with a bullet in his neck, Sumaidaie said.

He called the killing ''a betrayal" of the values and aspirations of Iraqis and Americans to defeat the terrorists and build a country based on freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

[Marine]

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeas...ill_26_in_iraq/

Also yesterday, the US military promised a full investigation into a June 25 incident in which Iraq's UN ambassador, Samir Sumaidaie, said Marines killed his unarmed 21-year-old cousin in ''cold blood" in Anbar province.

Sumaidaie said his cousin, Mohammed Sumaidaie, took Marines doing house-to-house searches to a bedroom to show them where a rifle that had no live ammunition was kept. When the Marines left, he was found in the bedroom with a bullet in his neck, Sumaidaie said.

He called the killing ''a betrayal" of the values and aspirations of Iraqis and Americans to defeat the terrorists and build a country based on freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

And guess what underbear? If these allegations turn out to be true the United States military will punish the responsible parties. Why don't you make the assumption the Marines involved are innoncent until after the investigation proves otherwise, eh?

[underbear1]

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Corps
Pfc. George K. Bhimji

L.A. Native Joins Marines
To Build a New Future


By Marine Lance Cpl. Edward R. Guevara Jr.
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Young men in today's American society often choose gangs or drugs over education, work and family.

But Marine Corps Pfc. George K. Bhimji, from Platoon 3034, Company K, chose family despite hailing from a Los Angeles neighborhood that presented the same troubles that landed his brothers in jail.

"It took strength for him not to give in," said Ellary L. Bhimji, his mother. "I always told them, 'Just because we have to live in a neighborhood, doesn't mean we have to be a part of that neighborhood.'"

Her son persevered through those tough winds by setting goals and wanting more than anything to achieve them -- sometimes for himself and sometimes for his family.

"I've learned as long as you don't quit, you are able to get what you want," said the 24-year-old Bhimji.

He had to be an achiever for his family after his father left.

When he was 12, he told his drug-addicted father that he hated him. After this confrontation, he didn't see his father again for six years, when he found him in a drug rehabilitation center.

"It made me watch my mouth and not talk back to my mom," said Bhimji.

In addition to learning that his father wasn't going to be the provider and role model for his family, Bhimji had to deal with violence and an unhealthy environment as he grew up to be the male role model of his family.

His older, half-brother, was also a bad influence at that time in Bhimji's life.

He finally realized what was going on around him halfway through his teenage years, when his big brother told him what to wear and where to wear it.

"As stupid as it was, I still had to do it so I didn't get shot," said Bhimji.

Keeping safe also required sleeping on the floor sometimes if someone decided to shoot at his house.



U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. George K. Bhimji reads over his practical application study sheet while standing in line for his evening meal. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Edward R. Guevara Jr.

Through everything, Bhimji said he always listened to his mother’s guidance. "I grew up with my mother and could never say no to my mother or argue with her," he said.

It showed in his schooling. His mother was a driving force for his high school success. "I was the first one in my family to graduate," Bhimji said. "It was a big accomplishment for me to graduate on time."

After high school, he worked to help support his family. "I worked because I got tired of eating (ramen noodles) every night," he said. "I paid to put food on the table."

Bhimji felt good about taking care of his family because they respected him.

He now has goals for his own family as a Marine.

"I joined the Marine Corps to make sure I had a future," said Bhimji.

He gladly took on the challenge of becoming a Marine for his 4-month-old son, George K. Bhimji IV, and his girlfriend.

He pushed himself through all the tough training times by thinking of his family.

"I didn't want to go home as a failure to my family," he said.

His mother said she rented a van to bring family members along to see Bhimji graduate today after three months of training.

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Corps
Capt. Darius L. James

Logistics Officer
Makes Beautiful Music

By Marine Cpl. Sharon E. Fox
4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism)

WILMINGTON, N.C. — In high school, a 14-year-old started playing the trombone. At first, it was a hobby; another extracurricular activity. But as the teenager improved and immersed himself in music, his hobby turned into a passion. Darius L. James was first chair trombone in the all-state band and orchestra in high school and was accepted to the University of South Carolina on a full music scholarship.

Sixteen years later, James – now Capt. James, a logistics officer for the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism), – still has a passion for making music.

"It was my dream in high school to be in the Marine band," said James. The Marines were the best, and James wanted to be a part of that.

Upon college graduation, James signed on to become an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Commissioned officers are not able to play in the Marine band, but James was still ecstatic to be one of the few and the proud.

As an active-duty Marine, James could not pursue his passion full-time. But after getting stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. the Bishopville, S.C., native was pleased to learn that the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra was holding auditions.

After earning a chair in the symphony, James made time to rehearse and perform on some weeknights and weekends.

Recently, James and the WSO performed their annual Christmas concert at Keenan Auditorium at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

James opened the performance by welcoming the audience and saying a few words about the holidays and the importance of supporting the arts. He also talked about how he became a



U.S. Marine Capt. Darius L. James rehearses before his Christmas performance with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra . The logistics officer finds time in his schedule to rehearse and perform on weeknights and weekends to pursue his passion for music. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sharon E. Fox

musician and how the support of friends, family and schools had helped him succeed.

He thanked his wife of three years, Alicia, and 9-month-old son Jadan for their support.

After a much-appreciated performance of Christmas music, accompanied by the Girls' Choir of Wilmington, Wilmington Boys Choir and the Cape Fear Theatre Ballet, the orchestra took their curtain call and James went home to rest before another work-filled week with the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism) and his fellow Marines.

[underbear1]

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?...050701120730880

Army officials point out that re-enlistments for May among active duty, Guard and Reserve soldiers were more than 100 percent of the service’s goals. But an Army memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal in June showed the service also searching for ways to keep new recruits from dropping out during training (in March, 17.4 percent left) or during the initial three years of duty (reportedly another 7.3 percent).

While the Army is adding recruiters and advertising dollars, it is also upping enlistment bonuses, increasing the top age range for Guard and Reserve eligibility and taking the greatest number of non-high school grads officials say they will allow: 10 percent.

Army recruiters held a “stand down” on May 20 to institute fresh trainings following accounts of alleged recruitment abuses, including a much-publicized CBS News report of a reluctant prospect threatened with arrest and another allegation of a recruiter suggesting ways in which a recruit could fool a drug test. On May 3, The New York Times reported the case of a man enlisted despite the recruiter’s knowledge of the recruit’s recent psychiatric hospitalization.

Meanwhile, in Iraq May was the deadliest month of the war so far for Marine reservists. And on June 23, 2,100 more Commonwealth soldiers were Iraq-bound, in what the Post-Gazette labeled “[t]he largest combat deployment of Pennsylvania Army National Guardsmen since World War II.”

With troops who expected to be weekend warriors now facing deadly fire, it is the toughest atmosphere for recruiters since the all-volunteer service was created in 1973.

“There’s a war going on, and the Army is competing with every other organization in the country,” says the Army’s Dale Terry. Parents, he admits, “weigh the odds: Do I want to send my son or daughter to the military and give them a chance of going to Iraq?” Army recruiting here “is going the same as it is across the nation. We wait until the end of the year to see what the outcome is.”


POG’s campaign charges that the main enticements for Army recruits -- college tuition and job training -- at best benefit a small proportion of ex-soldiers and at worst are misleading. Using financial incentives to recruit creates a de facto “economic draft,” they charge.

“Most of the job training is for very highly technical military jobs, not necessarily skills you can use in the workplace,” claims Skoczylas. And only 35 percent of people in the military ever get money for college because of GI Bill restrictions and the proportion of dishonorable discharges (which disqualify veterans from benefits), leaving only 15 percent of veterans to ever graduate from college after service.

Jose Llamas, a Veterans Administration spokesperson, said he did not have government statistics to answer POG’s contention.

POG also claims that recruiter efforts to meet increasingly difficult recruitment goals have fueled an increase in reported abuses. The New York Times reports that there were only 199 “substantiated cases of what [the Army] calls recruitment improprieties” in 1999, 213 in 2002 and 320 in 2004, with charges ranging “from threats and coercion to false promises that applicants would not be sent to Iraq.” One in five of all recruiters came under investigation in 2002. According to a May 18 report in The Christian Science Monitor, the Army has had “480 allegations of improprieties by recruiters since Oct. 1” of this year.

The counter-recruitment movement knows it must offer military-age adults another place to go for college money and job training, Bradley adds. One of POG’s latest flyers is a guide to alternative-service programs, college scholarship opportunities, career help and social-justice groups.

The group also realizes they’re beginning a public-relations battle against the military without a fraction of the federal government’s advertising budget. The Army has long used a state-of-the-art videogame as a recruiting tool. This June, the Navy announced their own downloadable “Strike and Retrieve” game as a recruitment aid.

“They take what Gap and Nike do and they turn it into trying to get people to kill someone,” says Bradley.

[underbear1]

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cf...=72&ItemID=8104

Counter-recruitment: A movement in progress

Beyond my own school, the potential for activism is being shown by the movement against military recruitment, particularly on campuses. By the middle of the semester it seemed as if nearly every week the Campus Antiwar Network’s national listserv was receiving another excited report from students who had just kicked recruiters off their campuses. City College of New York did this on two separate occasions at the beginning of the fall; and the counter-recruitment movement received national attention after 300 Seattle Central Community College students walked out of classes, surrounded their campus’s Army recruiter, pelted him with his own literature, and drove him off campus to chants of “Don’t come back!”—all on the same day George W. Bush was being inaugurated to his second term in Washington.

Soon many campuses were following Seattle’s lead. One of the more exciting examples toward the end of the semester was UC-Santa Cruz, where Students Against War led 300 students in kicking Army, Navy, and Marine recruiters out of the campus’s career fair. 86 students surrounded their tables inside while the remaining 200 rallied outside, blocking the entrances to the event. After the recruiters received a police escort out – with cowardly Army and Navy recruiters hiding from students behind stage curtains until they could leave – students set up a makeshift counter-recruitment booth in their place.

High school students, who are routinely denied basic free speech rights, also won important victories this semester for their right to present anti-recruitment views, at schools like Minneapolis’s Kennedy High School and Tacoma’s Foss High School. Most recently, the Parent Teacher Student Association at Seattle’s Garfield High School took a symbolic vote against allowing recruiters at their school.

Counter-recruitment has taken off, I think, in part because it represents a concrete way to fight the war. Getting recruiters out of our schools – or even just preventing them from recruiting successfully – has a visible impact on our immediate environment. It is also helping to take a toll on the military’s efforts to garner the forces needed to continue occupying Iraq, leaving the military scrambling to find recruits – and then taking desperate measures which, when publicized, can further turn people against the war.

So on May 20, the Army had to take the unprecedented step of conducting a national “values stand-down”: halting all recruitment for the day, supposedly to “re-train” recruiters in ethics and the law, in reaction to well-publicized abuses such as a Houston recruiter threatening a young man with arrest if he didn’t show up to his local recruiting station that day. While the stand-down was a public relations move on the Army’s part, activists saw it as an opportunity; the Campus Antiwar Network, Code Pink, American Friends Service Committee and other organizations called it as a national day of action and staged counter-recruitment protests across the country.

The counter-recruitment movement, then, has been able to grow because it taps into widespread hatred of the war, and produces tangible results.

Yet while the counter-recruitment movement has taken off quickly, drawing in students across the U.S., it is still a very young movement, with activists often isolated from one another in the absence of a more visible national antiwar movement. And it doesn’t seem that it can continue to grow unchallenged, since the military, and school administrations that may themselves be under enormous pressure from the government, are determined to crack down and destroy its momentum. In so doing, they are happy to run roughshod over student free speech rights, as when Thomas Keenan, a 19-year-old student at William Patterson University in New Jersey, was arrested simply for handing out counter-recruitment fliers on his own campus.

While university administrations are determined to send a message that anti-recruitment activism will not be tolerated, a campaign at City College of New York (CCNY) shows that it is possible to defend our movement. On March 9, three CCNY students and one staff member involved in a peaceful counter-recruitment protest were arrested and then suspended from school without a hearing. Two of the students were also beaten by campus security guards. After a defense campaign led by student groups and the faculty union gained substantial support, the school and the District Attorney were both forced to drop all charges against the students, who were escorted back onto campus by 100 cheering CCNY students, and applauded when they returned to their classes. The staff member, Carol Lang, still faces disciplinary charges from school, and the defense campaign is mobilizing to defend her and demand that she receive back pay – particularly considering that the District Attorney has had to concede that the charges against her had no merit. The CCNY defense campaign has so far succeeded in defending the right to protest recruiters on campuses.

But the threat of administrative crackdown remains very much an issue for students who want to challenge recruiters on their campus. A case that began the same day as CCNY’s on the other side of the country remains up in the air, with student free speech hanging in the balance. At San Francisco State University (SFSU), 200 students rallied against recruitment on campus in protest of the war and the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, ultimately driving recruiters out of the campus career fair with their peaceful chanting and placards. The SFSU administration then decided to single out two student groups (among the six sponsors) and three students for disciplinary action. The groups, Students Against War (a CAN chapter) and the International Socialist Organization, have both had their student club funding eliminated. Meanwhile, the students face undetermined penalties at disciplinary hearings this week. Students have organized a defense campaign that has garnered support from national figures including Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Peter Camejo and Lynn Stewart, but the SFSU administration remains determined to punish them if it can.

The SFSU case is doubtless being watched by the military and by university administrations across the country. Since the counter-recruitment movement first began they have sought ways to halt it with administrative retaliation: Seattle Central Community College, the school where counter-recruitment first got national publicity, originally told Students Against War that they must apologize to the recruiters or be decertified by the school. When students refused, however, the administration quickly backed down. The CCNY case was likewise a huge victory for the counter-recruitment movement, and if the students win at SFSU, it will serve as a model for other students around the country. Yet as long as schools remain major hubs of recruitment, we will run up against administrators eager to disable the movement that threatens their relationship to the military. Ultimately our movement will continue to grow only as long as it can mobilize the strength to protect itself from repression.

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Patrick J. Carroll, foreign area officer, G-5, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), plays his highland bagpipes in Camp Fallujah, July 2, 2005. Carroll has been playing the bagpipes for 10 years. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua C. Cox

U.S. Marine Corps
Lt. Col. Patrick J. Carroll

Marine Uses Music as Motivation

By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joshua C. Cox II
Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward)

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, July 6, 2005 — As the sun begins to set around camp here, the musical tones of bagpipes can be heard and servicemembers gather to enjoy traditional songs.
Lt. Col. Patrick J. Carroll, foreign area officer, G-5, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), has been mastering the art of the legendary bagpipes.

“I actually play highland bagpipes,” said the native of Shrewsbury, Mass. “I started playing them about 10 years ago.”

The Irish descendent takes his pipes wherever he treks, even on deployments.

“That's the mark of a piper, you've always got to take your pipes with you,” he said.

Carroll also plays another type of bagpipes, called the Irish Uilleann pipes, and takes them on his travels as well.

When Carroll first saw the mystifying instrument being played during parades and festivals, he became interested in learning the art.

An encounter with a bagpipe musician also sparked his decision to pursue the instrument.

“I happened to run into a father of a Marine who was playing pipes at a dining out at Camp Lejuene, N.C.,” he said.

Carroll approached the Marine's father at the dining out and inquired about learning how to play the bagpipes.

“How do you learn?” Carroll asked the gentleman. “He laughed and said that he had only recently retired as a school superintendent in Connecticut about three years earlier, and picked up the pipes as a means to keep him busy,” said Carroll.

The musician gave him tips on how to begin, and told him what he needed to invest in to get started.

“He advised me to buy a practice chanter, a pipe tutorial book and then give it a try,” said Carroll.




The chanter is an actual part of the instrument that resembles a recorder, he said.

“I essentially taught myself the basics of how to play the chanter,” said Carroll.

Soon after picking up the basics, his wife purchased a set of his own highland bagpipes as a Christmas gift.

“I was able to learn the basics for the whole pipes by myself, but then made the most progress after joining a band,” he said. “I still play in this band called the Northern Virginia Firefighters Emerald Society Pipe Band.”

The band consists of firefighters, police officers, active and retired servicemembers and a plethora of others from all walks of life. There are roughly 25 members in the band including drummers and bagpipers from the northern Virginia area.

“We march in various parades around the northern Virginia/greater Washington D.C., area,” he said.

Carroll said he plays the bagpipes for several reasons. One is to commemorate his mother, who passed away just before he picked up the instrument.

“I took up pipes after she died to remember her,” he said. “She had always loved Ireland, loved Irish music and her heritage was Polish, Irish and German as well.”

In addition, his father often listened to bagpipe music, which also influenced him to play.

“My father didn't play, but he loved the pipes, and had many records of pipe tunes,” he said.

Furthermore, Carroll plays the instrument to relieve daily stress, and to entertain himself and his comrades. He said Marines come to listen to his traditional and patriotic tones as the sun sets in the evenings here.

“I think it helps other people,” he said.

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Corps
Cpl. Nicholas L. Gentry
Marine Chooses Service Over College


By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Ruben D. Maestre
II Marine Expeditionary Force

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, July 8, 2005 — One well-known son of Jasper, Ind., Matt Mauck, a former quarterback for the Louisiana State University Tigers, led his team to national collegiate football championship status in 2004. Another son of this small town, less recognized in the public eye but just as worthy of attention, decided to serve his country by joining the Marine Corps.

“Even though my parents would help me out (financially) with college, I wanted to go all out and join what I thought was the best branch in the military,” said Cpl. Nicholas L. Gentry, a 2002 graduate of Jasper High School. “Other than my grandfather serving in the Air Force, no one else in my family has served in the military so they were apprehensive at first.”

Gentry, assigned to Force Deployment and Execution Office, II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), contemplated joining the Marine Corps from the urging of a friend. He said he also joined in response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and to fulfill his desire for travel and adventure.

While serving as a planner for Marine Air/Ground Task Force, the former high school tennis player has been to California, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Hawaii, Kuwait and now Iraq.

“I wanted to get out and travel,” said Gentry. “Being a Marine has been a way for me to get away from home for a while, see different parts of the country and now different parts of the world.”

As a planner in Iraq, the 21-year-old is responsible for certifying movements of thousands of troops and their gear. His mission is essential in getting the proper replacements and gear necessary for the Marines, sailors and soldiers conducting combat operations.

“We certify big movements of thousands of people or more and their equipment for redeployment to and from the states,” said Gentry. “We provide to (the chain command) the amount of people and the weight of their gear so they can provide the necessary modes of transport.”

Despite his important role, Gentry was recently tasked outside his office to assist in the destruction of enemy weapons and ammunition accumulated from combat operations outside Camp Fallujah. “That was probably the most enjoyable task, I have




U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Nicholas L. Gentry, a planner for Marine Air/Ground Task Force, Force Deployment and Execution Office, II Marine Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), in Camp Fallujah, Iraq, is responsible for certifying movements of thousands of troops and their gear to and from the states. The native of Jasper, Ind., said that his four-year commitment to the Marine Corps would not be sufficient without being in Iraq. “I didn't think I could do four years in the military without serving my country here.” U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ruben D. Maestre

been able to do out here,” he said of destroying the cache with explosives. “Doing that job was more of a privilege than a duty.”

Yet, it is his sense of duty that drives him to do the best job possible each day for his country and the Marines around him. Those in charge of him have taken notice.

“Corporal Gentry is part of a new generation of Marines who are a lot smarter, more motivated and mature,” said Gunnery Sgt. Troy A. Nicks, force deployment chief, assigned to Force Deployment and Execution Office, II MHG, II MEF (Forward). “One of his greatest attributes is his maturity, attention to detail, and most of all, his drive to be successful no matter what the task. He never wants to make a mistake.”

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Corps
Pvt. Martin Langhorst

Cousin Won't Take Freedom for Granted


By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jess Levens
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, May 24, 2004 — They were inseparable. Born just one day apart, these small-town Minnesota boys were more than cousins; they were best friends. The Marine Corps brought them even closer, but war separated them forever.

Homemade punk music resounded through the small town of Kettle River, Minn., as the band, The Humbuckers, regularly practiced. Martin Langhorst sang and played lead guitar, and his cousin, Moises Langhorst, sang and played rhythm guitar.

When they weren't practicing or making plans for the band, they were in the woods hunting for small game. They did almost everything together, according to Martin.

"When we were teenagers, it was all about the band," said Martin. "We got a little older, and it started to become more about the Marine Corps. Moises especially wanted to join. He even painted his (sport utility vehicle) camouflage."

As high-school graduation neared, Martin and Moises sought out their local Marine recruiter. They planned to enlist through a buddy program, but there was a problem.

"Moises was good to go, but there was a problem with my transcripts," said Martin. "I was home-schooled, so I didn't have the usual paperwork."

Marine Pfc. Moises Langhorst, Martin's cousin and best friend, was killed April 5 in Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo

Moises joined as an infantryman while Martin stayed back to organize his paperwork. When Moises returned from recruit training, Martin was ready to go.

"Moises actually got recruiting points because I joined when he was home on leave," said Martin. "I'm a big reason he got promoted to (private first class). We always helped each other out however we could."

Moises joined Infantry Training Battalion and Martin began recruit training here nearly 13 weeks ago.

"Even though we were separated, I felt closer than I've ever felt to him," said Martin. "We were more than cousins or best friends. We were brothers in arms."

While Martin continued to pursue the title Marine, Moises deployed to Iraq to do his part in Operation Iraqi Freedom.


Marine Pvt. Martin Langhorst. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jess Levens

"We were up north at Edson Range when I was called in to see the company commander," recalled Martin. "My family passed a Red Cross message. Moises was killed in combat. I didn't get any details. I just know that on April 6, my best friend died."

Actually, Moises died April 5 while serving with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, deployed from Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was killed in the province of Al Anbar, Iraq, during a firefight, according to a U.S. Department of Defense news release.

"He was devastated when he got the news," said Staff Sgt. John Maciel, Martin's senior drill instructor. "But his desire to become a Marine never wavered."

Unit leaders granted Martin emergency leave for Moises' funeral. He returned to recruit training just in time for the Crucible, the most challenging training evolution in the cycle.

"When he came back from the funeral, the platoon gave him a welcome-back card," said Maciel. "He seemed more focused after that."

"I was really down before I went home for the funeral," said Martin. "I was so sad. But after I spent four days at home and went to Moises' funeral, I came back motivated. I don't take freedom for granted, and I want to ensure the next generations have the freedom I've had, the freedom I'm ready to fight for, ... the freedom Moises died for."

The pain of losing someone so close and dear is hard, according to Martin. The void in his life is there, but it's been partially filled by his fellow platoon members and anyone else who wears the eagle, globe and anchor.

"To get through something like this while in recruit training shows that he has a lot of heart," said Maciel. "His potential is unlimited in or out of the Marine Corps."

Martin graduated May 21 with one goal in mind: go to Iraq and fight.

"It's not even about revenge or anything like that," said Martin. "It's the right thing to do. I support this country, and I'm ready to die if I have to."

Now able to defend freedom, Martin will spend 10 days with his family and friends in Kettle River. With a population of 168 people and no gas station or grocery store, the town is relatively unknown. However, it is home to some good hunting, and The Humbuckers - probably the only punk band in town history.

[Anita Garcia]

There are times when we must fight. This is not one of them.
--Joe Cordileone, USMC, 1966-1969


I support our troops. I do NOT support the government that sent them. This needs to stop, NOW.
--James David Reyome, USMC 4 years

Notice that those who say "we gotta go to war in Iraq" are not going anywhere -- nor are their children! It is our children who are now in harm's way; our loved ones and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. We believe the most supportive thing we can do for our son, who is 25 years old, in the Marines and in the Persian Gulf, is to do everything we can to stop this war from happening -- to keep yet another generation from being put in harm's way for the wrong reasons.
--Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson, children of WWII veterans and parents of current Marine sergeant

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Pfc. Shahid Aziz
By Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Militant Muslim terrorists learned to fly the planes used in the Sept. 11 attacks at an aviation school in Florida. The discovery that the United State's most hated villains learned in America's backyard the skills necessary to carry out their malicious attack haunted Americans after Sept. 11.

Today, a Pakistani-born Muslim man, who also attended aviation school in Florida, is helping to clear the haze of stereotypes and racial profiling that has hovered over America since that horrific day.

Pfc. Shahid Aziz said he joined the Marine Corps after evil men with distorted ideals shattered his dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot.

"Sept. 11 basically ended my dreams of being a pilot because of all the racial profiling that came from the incident," said the soft-spoken 27 year old.

Aziz moved to Fort Worth, Texas, from Pakistan in 1997. A short time later, he attended Com Air Aviation Academy in San Ford, Fla., where he received his instrument grading.

The study of flight was nothing new to Aziz. After earning a Bachelor's of Commerce Degree from Punjab College in Pakistan, he got his private license to fly and passed the commercial written exam.

After studying both accounting and aviation in Pakistan, Aziz chose to pursue a career in aviation when he moved to the United States. Before Sept. 11, he had been working as an instructor at Pro Aircraft Flight School in Texas on and off for four years.

Aziz was scheduled Sept. 12, 2001, to begin another aviation course on his way to becoming a pilot. When all flights were grounded on Sept. 11 by the FAA, so were Aziz's plans to become a pilot.

Soon after the shock of Sept. 11 subsided, Aziz decided to focus his energy on a new goal. He decided to become a U.S. Marine.

"This is the country I call home," said Aziz. "I wanted to defend my family and our way of life. I wanted to contribute what I can."

Aziz said his wife was shocked and scared for her husband initially because of all the hostility towards Muslims, but now she is proud of what he is doing.

Aziz arrived at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, in April 2002. He stepped onto the yellow footprints anxious to begin the training that would give him the title U.S. Marine. However, unlike most Marine recruits, he would not be home 13 weeks later. About a month into his training, Aziz shattered his jaw.

"I spent two months at Balboa Naval Medical Hospital with my jaw wired shut, living on a liquid diet," said the Marine. "My family was not allowed to visit; so trying to cope and stay motivated in the hospital was the hardest part of recruit training."

Although his family was not allowed to visit him, Aziz did have one persistent visitor at Balboa who helped him focus on his goal of becoming a Marine.








After the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. Marine Pfc. Shahid Aziz left his pursuit of a career as a commercial airline pilot to become a U.S. Marine. U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke.

"My first senior drill instructor, Staff Sgt. Rivera, visited me quite a few times to check on me. He showed a genuine concern," said Aziz.

Upon release from Balboa, Aziz was assigned to the Medical Rehabilitation Platoon for one month. Where he said the MRP recruits relied on each other for motivation and encouragement.

"My time at MRP was motivating. The drill instructors take care of you, and the recruits help each other through," said Aziz. "When you're broken, you suffer and make sacrifices other recruits don't have to make. That forms some pretty strong bonds."

When Aziz's rehabilitation was complete, he picked up his training more motivated than before, according to Aziz.

"After he broke his jaw, he came to us, ... and he's really excelled since then," said Sgt. James P. Gillespie, a senior drill instructor. "He's an outstanding recruit. He was one of two recruits from my platoon to get a noteworthy on the battalion commander's inspection for having an immaculately maintained weapon."

Aziz said he is glad to be a part of the Marine Corps, an institution where strong bonds are commonplace.

"I joined the Marine Corps because I believe in brotherhood, working as a team, and looking out for each other," he said. "I like the fact that Marines don't leave their brothers behind; all we see is green."

After he completes his training to become a motor transportation mechanic, Aziz will probably return home to Texas as a reservist. There he will continue to fight his own battle against racial profiling, he said.

"I want to try to prove that not all Muslims or Pakistanis are bad," said Aziz. "A few people give a whole country or group a bad name."

After six months at MCRD San Diego, Aziz is finally a part of a new group. He has earned the title Marine, and he said the trials and tribulations he experienced along the way gave him a renewed respect for American freedom.

"Boot camp makes you appreciate freedom even more and not take anything for granted, even the little things," he said.

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Corps
Staff Sgt. Andy S. Beavers

Senior Drill Instructor Marches Platoon Past Perfect Score, Breaks Depot Record


By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif., July 2, 2003 — Final Drill 101 - A drill instructor from 1st Recruit Training Battalion set a new mark for excellence in final drill competition at the depot June 17, recording a better than perfect score to shatter the depot's previous record for the competition.

For Staff Sgt. Andy S. Beavers, senior drill instructor, Platoon 1078, Company B, it truly was his final drill competition here as he scored a 101 and finished out his time "in the trenches" with a performance that will not easily be matched or surpassed.

Beavers' long-time friend, Staff Sgt. Leopoldo Ruiz, series gunnery sergeant, Company B, held the previous record with a score of 99, and Beavers had made it his goal to beat his friend's record.

"Before I went out there, I told him I was going to beat him," Beavers said. "I felt confident when I started, but I had no idea I would be as successful as I was."

A score of 100 is considered a perfect score in the competition, but drill instructors can earn a maximum of five bonus points for the addition of a personalized song-like cadence, or what drill instructors like to call "sing-song."

Drill masters rate a drill instructor's sing-song and decide how many bonus points he should receive for the extra effort.

Beavers received the maximum five bonus points possible for his sing-song.

He was gigged a meager four points for minor discrepancies such as improper execution of eyes right and return sword and improper arm swing.

Platoon 1078 was selected as Company B's honor platoon thanks to Beavers' record-setting performance, which was crucial for his platoon's come-from-behind victory in the battle for honor platoon recognition

"The platoon was on. I was on, and everything felt right that day," Beavers said. "This is a rewarding end to a demanding tour on the drill field. I'm ecstatic."



Staff Sgt. Andy S. Beavers, senior drill instructor, Platoon 1078, Company B, set a new record during the company's final drill competition June 17. Beavers scored a 101 during the competition, breaking the previous record of 99. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke

The meticulous attention to detail that helped Beavers set a new record is part of a Company B tradition, according to Ruiz.

"Bravo has a reputation in RTR (Recruit Training Regiment) for being exceptional at drill," he said.

Beavers is currently enjoying a well-earned break from the drill field and will be the new follow on series gunnery sergeant for Company B.

[Anita Garcia]

Do not allow our military to police the world. Do not allow our military to become pawns of corrupt and arrogant politicians and corporations. Peace is patriotic.
--Ronald Mauer, US Marine Corps, 4 Years

[Marine]

Marine Corps
Capt. Steve Hahn

Boston Marathon - Marine Style


By U.S. Army Sgt. Jacques-René Hébert
Marine Forces Central Command

UMM QASR, Iraq, April 21, 2002 — When Marine Corps Capt. Steve Hahn applied for entrance into the 2003 Boston Marathon, he had no idea that he would be miles away, deployed to a small town in the southern desert of Iraq, working to help rebuild a country. Indeed, when April 21 came around, it appeared that Hahn's hopes of running the legendary marathon had come to an end. But after some internal deliberation, he decided that if he couldn't run Boston's marathon, he would run his own.

Hahn, a Colonial Heights, Va. native, is currently attached to the Office of Reconstruction and Human Assistance: Southern Region, a coalition effort to provide humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq and to help restore control of Iraq to the Iraqi people.

"To simplify it, I didn't want Saddam to get the best of me," Hahn said. "It was his fault that I had to miss my first Boston Marathon. Saddam had already lost his big battle - I wasn't going to let him win this one.

"Plus, it was just something to do in my off-time."

Hahn measured out a 5.8-kilometer track and did a little math. Seven and one quarter times around would put him roughly at the marathon length of 26.2 miles. However, measuring the course was only the first step to preparing for his run. Hahn explained, to run a distance of this magnitude, it takes a little bit more work than to "just do it."

"I had been running on a pretty regular basis, doing work ups for the real deal," he said. "But because of the work load here, I just haven't had the time to train the right way, doing my carbohydrate loads and my training runs."

At 110 degrees on an April afternoon, training for a marathon is a difficult endeavor, Hahn later explained. Prime running conditions are early morning and evening, when the sun is but a sliver in the sky and the desert winds race across the sand to cool the brow. Fortunately for Hahn, his marathon would begin shortly after the sun slipped below the western horizon.

At 8:30 p.m., simultaneous start time as the Boston Marathon across the globe, Hahn began his own Boston Marathon, the first unofficial marathon run in a "free Iraq."

Mile after mile, Hahn's feet pounded the asphalt, running a race pitting man versus himself - or so he thought. As he began his race, an SUV with a flashing blue light pulled up behind him to ensure his safety throughout the run. On his fourth lap, as miles started to wear on his body, his fellow Marines joined him to give him some extra motivation to complete his marathon mission.

"The intangibles in a marathon that help you get through it - the excitement of the crowd, the intensity of the other runners - all



U.S. Marine Capt. Steve Hahn chases down the miles in his Iraqi version of the Boston Marathon, April 21, in Umm Qasr, Iraq. Due to his deployment to the region, Hahn was unable to attend this year's marathon, though he commemorated the event by running 26.2 miles through the Iraqi desert. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jacques-René Hébert

the things missing from this run, were more than compensated by my fellow Marines, some of which I had known for less than a week, running with me and standing by to help me out with water and emotional support," he said with a smile. "What I thought would be a long, painful run really turned into a motivating experience I'll never forget. The only difference is that there's no t-shirt at the end of this race."

When it was all said and done, Hahn finished his "Boston Marathon" in roughly three and a half hours. He said later that his goal wasn't to run the fastest marathon he could, since the next day, he had to return to work, business as usual.

"In the past, I've really killed myself over a race," he said. "This run was different. There was no need to burn myself out over it. The running of the marathon itself was what counted. Not to mention, taxpayers sent me out here to fight a war, not run races."

Since 1996, Hahn has been serving his country as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Though he thinks his marathon pales in comparison to the efforts of U.S. and coalition forces in battle, and the sacrifices the Iraqi people have made, his fellow service members believe he is a credit to his service and his country.

"The determination Steve displayed in running the Umm Qasr, Iraq version of the Boston Marathon, is the very determination we need to rebuild this country," stated retired Army Brig. Gen. Buck Walters, director of ORHA South.

As for Hahn, he is excited about the possibility of going home soon, though he has valued his experiences in the desert of Iraq.

"Everyone is here (Iraq), both coalition forces and U.S. forces," Hahn explained. "We all want this to be over so we can get on with our lives. Though I'm still out here doing my job, I decided that running this race anyway would be my first step in getting on with my own life."

[Anita Garcia]

Iraq is and has been cowed since the Gulf War. No, they haven't done everything we've asked of them. What a surprise? Why, in the midst of last summer's national outrage over corporate malfeasance, did it suddenly become important to go after Saddam Hussein? I can't help but feel like I'm watching a real-life version of "Wag the Dog." I'm a liberal, and a Democrat, and I'm proud of it. And I can't help but feel that the President used our national disdain for Saddam to his own benefit in the off-year elections. I hope at some point we'll find out what really happened in the White House to catapult Iraq into a top priority.
--Lin Lofley, USMC, 2 years, 10 months

[Marine]

U.S. Marine Sgt. Alan Poe
By Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon
USS NASSAU (Underway) — In the tough world that is Marine Reconnaissance, one Marine currently deployed with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) attributes his success to the support of his father.

Sgt. Alan Poe, Reconnaissance and Surveillance Platoon, Reconnaissance Battalion Detachment, says his father, a retired Marine sergeant major has played a big part in making him what he is today.

"My dad treated the Marine Corps like a regular job," said Poe. "So when the time came I just knew I wanted to go and he was very supportive of that."

It's a small Marine Corps and not surprisingly Poe's career path has crossed his Dad's more than once. His first duty station was among his dad's last at 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. Poe's father had served as that battalion sergeant major in 1997-1998.

Interestingly, Poe has another connection with his Dad's career. His father's Commanding Officer at 3/6 was then Lt. Col., now Col. Richard Mills, who is Poe's Commanding Officer with the 24th MEU (SOC). While assigned to 3/6, Poe's father also deployed with the 24th MEU.

"It was funny, I ended up at 3/6 after the School of Infantry," said Poe. "My father had just retired so he still knew a lot of people there, and they liked to mess with me."

After arriving at 3/6 Poe went to Lima Company and did a deployment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. It was there he heard about Marine Reconnaissance from some of his friends.

After that float, Poe passed the indoctrination and went over to Reconnaissance Battalion. From there, he went to the Basic Reconnaissance Course, Jump School and to the (Helicopter Rope Suspension Training) HRST course."

Currently, Poe is the point man in his team. "Basically I'm the navigator," he said. "It is my job to know where the team is at all times. I also check for booby traps and mines."

"But, Recon is tough," he added. "You need to have good physical fitness, a tough attitude and be able to do things without anyone telling you."

Poe said he is able to do these things because of his father's positive influence. "He is always telling me to make sure my (Marine Corps Institute Courses) MCIs are done, to go to the sergeants course and to make sure I am being a positive role model for others."

Poe said his father also passes on some of the tips that made him a successful leader of Marines. "The most important thing he taught me was to make sure you take care of your troops." He said this helps him because he just re-enlisted and plans on staying in Recon and wants to become a team leader and later a staff sergeant then a gunnery sergeant.






Sgt. Alan Poe, Reconnaissance Battalion Detachment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), during a soccer match at Camp Able Sentry, Macedonia. U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Alexander Whitney



He also said there is a bit of competition as to who may be the better Marine. "My dad was also good at administrative stuff," said Poe. "But I think I am a better (physical trainer.)"

On his off time, Poe said he enjoys backpacking and rock climbing, something he picked up with his dad while he was in the Boy Scouts. He has backpacked and climbed through a lot of different places throughout the country. He most recently went backpacking with his dad at Pilot Mountain, N.C.

Whether it is in the field with his recon team or hiking through the mountains, Poe said his relationship with his father is one of the things that makes him who he is today.

"Sgt. Poe is cut from the same cloth as his dad, just an all around outstanding Marine," said Mills. "His father was simply a superb battalion sergeant major, the best I've ever been around. He didn't have an infantry background but was as fine and as hard a "grunt" as I've ever seen.

Although he's retired now and kicking back in Texas, we stay in touch and he's still keeping me out of trouble! It's an honor to have his son in the MEU."