Marines Sound Off About The Iraq War Options

[noonanda]

Well Update to my Orders, I now Report to the 1st Marine Division around 30 March 06, Big thing on where I go is wheather I get selected for Gunny this year. If I do I want to go to 81mm Mortars, If Im still a SSgt I'll go back to an Arty Battery.

I got lucky and dodged the Recruiting Bullet again this year, A buddy in my section got tagged with it.

[Marine]

Well Update to my Orders, I now Report to the 1st Marine Division around 30 March 06, Big thing on where I go is wheather I get selected for Gunny this year. If I do I want to go to 81mm Mortars, If Im still a SSgt I'll go back to an Arty Battery.

I got lucky and dodged the Recruiting Bullet again this year, A buddy in my section got tagged with it.

Congratulations Staff Sergeant, I remember summer time at Pendleton as a not too pleasant of an experience though but that was back in 1986-87. All I can say is thank God they got rid of the Quonset huts.

Ohhh-Rahhh, Did I make it big enough for all to see?



This post has been edited by Marine: May 6 2005, 11:43 AM

[big sky brad]

Methinks NBC's story 'bout "Marine cleared in mosque shootings probe" will probably make a few here unhappy, but just as Gunny's son predicted, there 'tis, eh?

Do you know that article doesn't report that the Iraqi that was killed didn't have an IED or a weapon on his person and he was not booby-trapped?

[Frenchy]

Do you know that article doesn't report that the Iraqi that was killed didn't have an IED or a weapon on his person and he was not booby-trapped?

Sooo...what's your point?

[david sobien]

Stephen.. If you cannot see the point in not shooting injured people lieing on the ground, it is pointless to attempt to explain the issue to you.

[Frenchy]

Stephen.. If you cannot see the point in not shooting injured people lieing on the ground, it is pointless to attempt to explain the issue to you.

It's also pretty evident that armchair quarterbacking this issue is pretty easy for you.

[big sky brad]

It's not armchair quarterbacking now, after the fact, Stephen.
If that Iraqi wasn't a threat just before he was killed, he never was a threat.

From that article -

A Marine corporal who noticed that one of the insurgents was still breathing raised his rifle and fired a single shot into the man’s head.

Military officials now report that the same corporal shot three of the unarmed insurgents inside the mosque.

This post has been edited by big sky brad: May 7 2005, 09:10 PM

[Frenchy]

It's not armchair quarterbacking now, after the fact, Stephen.
If that Iraqi wasn't a threat just before he was killed, he never was a threat.

Were you there, and did you know that...Marine?

[david sobien]

I do not have to know that Marine to know that it is murder to shoot unarmed defensless injured people lieing dieing on the ground. I think the Marine was just getting even for other occurances that happened prior to entering the building. The Marine could have investigated what the hell was going on before shooting people in the head. What he did is show a total lack of fire disipline. At least know who you are killing. He had the time. They were not shooting at him.

[Frenchy]

Military concludes
3 unarmed insurgents were slain in self-defense

That's good enough for me!

[ARMYDAD]

YO - BIG SKY, BAMMO AND OUR FELLOW "COMBAT" VETERANS WHO FOLLOW THE TRUE FAITH.

The ultra right-wing religeous flick "Kingdom of Heaven," about THE CRUSADES was just released last weekend.

Make sure to go see it, but by all means WAIT for it to come to one of your discount $1.00 movie cinemas.

Our son also ask PLEASE don't send any copies of the flick to Iraq or Afghanistan. The folks we are trying to spread DEMOCRACY to will kind of get paranoid if copies of "The Kingdom of Heaven," which glorify the CRUSADES start showing up with our troops in the Middle East. NOT GOOD FOR DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS NOPE NOT GOOD AT ALL.

For the rest of our "wannabe" Veterans out there WE finally have come to an agreement on something. There is a DIFFERENCE VAST between Vietnam and Iraq.



OK - now where's your sense of HUMOR

Well Army Dad has to roll on to the Pharmacy for More Drugs Drill Sergeant.

Oh, I have a decent letter from the front to post for a change. Someone I contacted in Congress must have dropped a dime on our son's unit commander.

They are NOW posting media articles instead of the Commander sending out dumb ass operational combat and casualty reports personally.

Our son's junior officer CO also shows a bit more "sensitivity" when writing to Military Family members but that probably has more to do with him being a recalled IRR member and lower ranking officer - a Captain. I'll post his letter with appropriate deletions when I return.

[ARMYDAD]

This tidbit was sent in by a REAL MARINE who owns, administers, and moderates the Americans for Shared Sacrifice Web Site http://americansforsharedsacrifice.org/

and Forum http://americansforsharedsacrifice.org/phpBB/ which focuses on what it's title infers, "PATRIOTIC NATIONAL SHARED SACRIFICE."

Lee Kniess was a Marine Lieutenant in Vietnam. He is retired in the Columbus, Ohio area and works part time at odd jobs to make ends meet.

Here is a very insightful exchange between two REAL Marines regarding "their" impressions of the magnetic Yellow Ribbon phenomenon.

-----Original Message-----
From: Lee Kniess
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 8:08 PM
To: North, Jim
Subject: Million Veteran March to WASHINGTON DC

Jim:

I am curious about your feelings about the "Support Our Troops" Yellow Ribbons. What do you think when you see them?

For me it is quite hypocritical - it is like we are patriotic but we don't do anything - nor really care.

When I came back from Vietnam I had no bad experiences - like some others I
have heard had. But, in some ways this is like a slap in the face to Veterans and the soldiers the American people get a free pass on patriotism.

And you and I know that since the $280 Billion that is being spent on the Iraq war and not being paid nor put on the budget will cost these kids in the long run when they need the VA, it will not be there, since the VA is funded on a discressionary basis. They will just keep cutting the VA's budget. But since there are so few Veterans they will get away with it.

What do you think?

Lee

Semper Fi

********************************************************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "North, Jim"
To: "Lee Kniess"
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 11:23 AM
Subject: RE: Million Veteran March to WASHINGTON DC

Lee,

The first thing I thought when I began noticing all the magnetic yellow ribbons on the back of everyone's cars: "where's everyone getting these yellow ribbons at?" And, "how come I don't know about, how to go about getting them?"

I also noticed that the yellow ribbons are on cars of mostly middle class people with SUVs and other later model cars.

Then, I noticed that people could purchase these yellow ribbons right at check-out counters at local drug stores, Wal-Marts etc... Funny, usually this is where you put items that most people would not buy unless it's a spur of the moment decision and only because of the convenience?

This is when I thought, these yellow ribbons are more or a marketing project for companies to make a profit from the sales? Now, you'll notice other companies are using this "ribbon concept" by using their own particular logos. Like the "March of Dimes" etc...

I began paying attention to people who actually have these yellow ribbons on their cars. That was easy, where I work, many cars in the parking lot have these yellow ribbons and at many of the desks inside my company, you will find yellow ribbons and other "support our troops" items.

I asked a few of these people if they knew someone in the military, because I noticed they had the "support our troops" items on their desk or on their cars. Most said no, they just thought that it was a good way to say that they are supporting the war on terror and the good job the troops are doing.

That's about the scope or details most people could elaborate on, as far as the troops health and welfare. I don't think they have the foggiest notion about anything, as far as benefits and so on.

To me, I believe they feel they should do something to help the troops, since they are completely unaffected in anyway to the war on terror, just what they see on TV. And this is their way of "doing their part" by showing concern, without actually having to get "involved."

Jim
MSgt, U.S. Marines
Semper Fi

******************************************************************
"Lee Kniess"
To: "North, Jim"
Subject: Re: Million Veteran March to WASHINGTON DC
Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 19:16:02 -0400

Jim:

Do any of these people realize how the troops are not being supported and all the other things that are happening to people who are caught up in this war.

It would be great if you could find out if they really want to support them?

Are they willing to pay for the war? Like has been done in every other war we fought in?

I really want to make our website a real clearing house of info to let people know the difference between this war and any other we have been in. But it has to be done with class and not turn them off. We need people on our side if all the stuff that was talked about in the "New Concept" Email.

I do not think it is going to come from the regular VSO's. It has to be done by groups like ours that are willing to be more active and not just willing to
back or believe everything the administration says.

My feelings are that a lot of Vets have sold their souls for a parade. No matter how poorly they are treated.

I can remember when I went to see Born on the Forth of July there was a scene where the VFW had Ron Kovak in a parade, and then he went home to his home
ALONE to sit in his wheelchair for his family to deal with. I saw the movie with a Vet who was 100% disabled with PTSD. It sort of cured me of any desire to join in any parade. Even though it was not ever on my list since when I got back from Vietnam the VFW and American Legion weren't interested in me - I hadn't won my war, and these WWII Vets accused us of whining about or benefits like some right wingers (Buyer's type) are NOW.

If you can come up with some concepts and ideas for a one page info sheet
about Vets feelings about the Yellow Ribbons let me know. We do not want it all to come from only one Veteran.

Once we get on done the way we want. I want to post it as a PDF so it can go
out all over the States and include a link to our site Americans for shared sacrifice that would give more detailed info on what the one page sheet said.

I believe if we do it well we can help all vets and maybe get more people
interested in the Veterans Party, The Million Vet March, The New Bonus March
and focused on both the negative and positive aspects of the Iraq war, especially the probability of the Draft.

I believe we vets are the only group of people who can help return this country to sanity!!!

Let me know what you think.

Lee

Semper Fi

Come on now REAL MARINES there are those in our mainstream national media who see humor in this Yellow Ribbon phenomenon or is it really humor that SACKs is pointing out in his Minneapolis-St.Paul,MN Star Tribune Newspaper Cartoon or another message he is trying to relate, like maybe THE TRUTH.

Could this be really how Military Families view those Yellow Ribbons the longer our troops occupy Iraq? Is this why most EVERYONE "except" Military Families display these shameful symbolic reminders of the "hypocracy" of the war WE were misled into?



In fact, be on the look out for the general public starting to use and abuse the Blue Star Banner program that's a tradition set aside ONLY to be used by immediate family members of those Soldiers deployed in war zones. This was a tradition begun in WWII.



Well, last week our family was at a local restaurant and noticed a slightly differenct banner with a writing in the field that said, "WE HONOR THOSE WHO SERVE."



When we asked the driver if he had anyone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, we were told that he had no one in the service period. This was quite an insult we gently reminded him that the Blue and Gold Star Banners were "respectfully" reserved for the families for those who were carrying the nation's burden and if he wanted to display one to take one of his grand-children to the nearest Armed Forces Recruiting Center and EARN the right to display one.

http://www.epier.com/store/outpostflags/vi...em.asp?id=10333

http://www.patrioticproducts.net/specialinterests.mgi

Oh, and of course the American Legion needs to get in on this profitable travesty
http://www.post59.net/. We see nothing wrong with this right-wing FOR GOD AND COUNTRY organization hacking the traditional Blue Star Banners to legitimate Military Family members but when they exploit WAR, any WAR, to increase their fund raising capability by joining in this FREE FOR ALL - it makes Military Families SICK.

http://www.boomspeed.com/gbusa/

I took a close look at the "Patriotic" site above that EXPLOITS the Blue Star Banner for his ultra right-wing political agenda and it is crawling with so much HATE for foreigners and immigrants, I couldn't tell the difference if this kook had it in for illegal immigrants in general or ALL IMMIGRANTS. I mean he made Archie Bunker and Rush Limbaugh sound like intellectuals. That is WHY this Military Family is highly insulted by the DEGRADING and EXPLOITATION of a patriotic symbol traditionally reserved for those families who've EARNED it via service of their family members in a War Zone.

What nerve in a nation that shirks it's "PATRIOTIC NATIONAL SHARED SACRIFICE," but what should WE expect from a nation and people led by:



This elderly gent most likely meant well, but this is what happens when Patriotism and "Support for Our Troops" is commercialized in such a way that it makes those who "ARE NOT" contributing to the WAR EFFORT feel good about THEMSELVES. It is insulting to our troops and their family members waiting at home. It certainly doesn't take long for those of us with "thinking caps." to catch on. ARMY DAD.

This post has been edited by ARMYDAD: May 11 2005, 10:44 AM

[Acebass]

I watched "Last Letters Home" last night on one of the pay networks. People should be watching these things if they want real reality TV.
They will pay for getting us in this war someday, hopefully.

[big sky brad]

3 Idaho Marines injured when tank strikes mine
Reservists were fighting militants in western Iraq
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 05-11-2005
Kathleen Kreller
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Marine reservists from Idaho were seriously injured Sunday in Iraq when their tank rolled over a mine.

Staff Sgt. Chad Brumpton, Lance Cpl. Joseph Lowe and Lance Cpl. Mitchell Ehlke are in stable condition, said 1st Lt. Nathan Braden, a Marine spokesman at Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif., who identified the Marines and confirmed that they had been injured.

According to Marine officials at Twenty-Nine Palms, Lowe was evacuated to a medical facility in Germany. Brumpton and Ehlke also were expected to be evacuated to Germany.

The reservists are with Charlie Company, 4th Tank Battalion based in Boise, attached to the 2nd Marine Division while serving in Iraq.

Military officials declined to describe the men's injuries or the exact circumstances of the incident. Braden did say the Marines were in the Anbar Province of far western Iraq, which borders Syria.

According to press accounts, in recent days hundreds of Marines have been working to clear out militants in western Iraq near Syria as part of "Operation Matador."

Brumpton, a tank commander, sustained multiple fractures in both legs and may have a broken hand, said Ginny Brumpton, his mother, who lives in Eagle. She spoke with her son Tuesday morning on the telephone.

"It's hard to take. He sounded pretty busted up, very broken," Ginny Brumpton said.

Bob Brumpton, Chad's father, said he has talked with the families of the other injured Marines. All live in the Treasure Valley, he said. Lowe suffered a broken back and Ehlke's ankle was shattered by the exploding mine, Bob Brumpton said. Chad, 31, has his "pulverized" legs in metal frames called halos, Bob said.

"It went off and threw them around pretty good. They were like BBs in a boxcar," Bob Brumpton said. "My son almost died. He is in terrible shape and terrible pain, and I can't be with him right now. I don't know what's going on in the future."

Another Marine from Chad's platoon pulled the injured men out of their destroyed M1-A1 Abrams tank, Bob Brumpton said. Military officials would not confirm those or other details Tuesday.

Bob Brumpton said he and Ginny are planning to visit their son at a military hospital in Bethesda, Md., when he comes back to the United States. "The Marines have been just first-rate about keeping us informed and it's difficult when it's halfway around the world," Bob Brumpton said.

The Brumptons said they are eager for their son to return to Idaho and resume his life. In civilian life, Chad works as a state prison guard. He spends many hours working on a "fixer-upper" house he purchased, and loves hunting and riding motorcycles. He's been in the Marines for 10 years, his father said.

Link -
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../505110341/1002

[big sky brad]

Mine kills two U.S. Marines in Iraq
Thu May 12, 3:13 AM ET


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two U.S. Marines were killed on Wednesday when their armored vehicle drove over a mine in northwest Iraq during an offensive against insurgents, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

The military said 14 Marines were wounded in the blast.

The Marines were taking part in Operation Matador, an offensive against insurgents and foreign fighters in northwestern Iraq near the Syrian border.

Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, at least 1,231 U.S. military and Pentagon personnel have been killed in action in Iraq. Including non-combat deaths the toll is 1,609.

Link -
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...iraq_marines_dc

[The_Bammo]

Thursday 12th May 2005 (23h28) :
Marine Unit from Ohio Wiped Out in Iraq


HABAN, Iraq, May 11 -- The explosion enveloped the armored vehicle in flames, sending orange balls of fire bubbling above the trees along the Euphrates River near the Syrian border.
Marines in surrounding vehicles threw open their hatches and took off running across the plowed fields, toward the already blackening metal of the destroyed vehicle. Shouting, they pulled to safety those they could, as the flames ignited the bullets, mortar rounds, flares and grenades inside, rocketing them into the sky and across pastures. Gunnery Sgt. Chuck Hurley emerged from the smoke and turmoil around the vehicle, circling toward the spot where helicopters would later land to pick up casualties. As he passed one group of Marines, he uttered one sentence: "That was the same squad."

Among the four Marines killed and 10 wounded when an explosive device erupted under their Amtrac on Wednesday were the last battle-ready members of a squad that four days earlier had battled foreign fighters holed up in a house in the town of Ubaydi. In that fight, two squad members were killed and five were wounded.

In 96 hours of fighting and ambushes in far western Iraq, the squad had ceased to be.

Every member of the squad -- one of three that make up the 1st Platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment -- had been killed or wounded, Marines here said. All told, the 1st Platoon -- which Hurley commands -- had sustained 60 percent casualties, demolishing it as a fighting force.

"They used to call it Lucky Lima," said Maj. Steve Lawson, commander of the company. "That turned around and bit us."

Wednesday was the fourth day of fighting in far western Iraq, as the U.S. military continued an assault that has sent more than 1,000 Marines down the ungoverned north bank of the Euphrates River in search of foreign fighters crossing the border from Syria. Of seven Marines killed so far in the operation, six came come from Lima Company’s 1st Platoon.

Lima Company drew Marine reservists from across Ohio into the conflict in Iraq. Some were still too young to be bothered much by shaving, or even stubble.

They rode to war on a Marine Amtrac, an armored vehicle that travels on tank-like treads. Marines in Iraq typically crowd thigh to thigh in the Amtrac, with one or two men perched on cardboard boxes of rations. Only the gunners manning the top hatches of Amtracs have any view of the passing scenery. Those inside find out what their field of combat is when the rear ramp comes down and they run out with weapons ready.

Marines typically pass travel time in the Amtrac by extracting favorite bits from ration packets, mercilessly ribbing a usual victim for eating or sleeping too much, or sleeping themselves.

On Monday, when the Marine assault on foreign fighters formally began, the young Marines of the squad from the 1st Platoon were already exhausted. Their encounter at the house in Ubaydi that morning and the previous night had been the unintended first clash of the operation, pitting them against insurgents who fired armor-piercing bullets up through the floor. It took 12 hours and five assaults by the squad -- plus grenades, bombing by an F/A-18 attack plane, tank rounds and rockets at 20 yards -- to kill the insurgents and permit recovery of the dead Marines’ bodies.

Afterward, they slept in the moving Amtrac, heads back and mouths agape. One stood up to stretch his legs. He fell asleep again standing up, leaning against the metal walls.

Squad members spoke only to compare what they knew about the condition of their wounded. Getting the latest news, they fell silent again. After one such half-hour of silence, a Marine offered a terse commendation for one of the squad members shot at Ubaydi: "Bunker’s a good man."

With the operation underway, Marine commanders kept the 1st Platoon largely to the back, letting its men rest.

Commanders had hoped the operation would swiftly capture or kill large numbers of foreign fighters. But the foreigners, and everyone else here, had plenty of warning that the Marines were coming -- including those ready to fight at Ubaydi.

By the time the squad from Lima Company crossed north of the Euphrates, whole villages consisted of little more than abandoned houses with fresh tire tracks leading into pastures or homes occupied only by prepubescent boys or old men. Men of fighting age had made themselves scarce. The AK-47 assault rifles ubiquitous in Iraqi households had disappeared.

Many Marines complained bitterly that commanders had pulled them out of the fight at Ubaydi while the insurgents were still battling, to start the planned offensive. "They take us from killing the people they want us to kill and bring us to these ghost villages," one complained Wednesday on the porch of a house commandeered as a temporary base.

Uneventful house searches stretched into late afternoon, the tedium broken only by small-arms fire and mortar rounds lobbed by insurgents hiding on the far side of the river.

This correspondent had just gotten off the Amtrac and the reconstructed squad from 1st Platoon was rolling toward the Euphrates in a row of armored vehicles, headed for more house searches, when the vehicle rolled over the explosive.

Marines initially said they believed the blast was caused by two mines stacked on top of each other. But reports from Marines that they had seen an artillery round and two hand-held radios near the blast site raised suspicions that the explosion was caused by a bomb that had been activated remotely, Lawson said.

Hurley and others pulled their comrades out of the Amtrac as flames detonated -- or "cooked off," in military jargon -- its ammunition. As Marines carrying stretchers ran to the Amtrac, bullets snapped out of the burning hulk and traveled hundreds of feet. The Marines ran back through the fusillade, carrying out the wounded. "C’mon, c’mon, c’mon," some shouted, desperate to get the wounded out.

The four dead were trapped inside the vehicle, Lawson said.

"We passed right over it. We passed right over it," one of many Marines in the convoy ahead of the burning Amtrac said of the explosive, puzzling over why he was still alive.

"That’s the last of the squad," said another, Cpl. Craig Miller, whose reassignment last month had taken him out of the unit. "Three weeks ago, that would have been me."

Late Wednesday, helicopters flew out Hurley and the remaining members of 1st Platoon for time off. They are to return after the platoon is remade, Marines said.

Another Lima Company platoon commander ordered his men to bed early, in preparation for the next day’s operations. Mourning could wait.

"We don’t have time," the commander said.

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=6021

[big sky brad]

Correction - 6 Marines were killed, 15 wounded.

Six Ohio Marines Killed in Iraq
May 13, 2005, 05:01 AM
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Six Marines were killed and another 15 were wounded from one central Ohio squad in a major U.S. offensive near Iraq's border with Syria, a newspaper reported. The squad was one of three belonging to the 1st Platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment, according to The Washington Post, which has a reporter embedded with Operation Matador.

The military has confirmed five Marine deaths so far and says about 100 insurgents have been killed in the operation -- one of the largest U.S. offensives since Fallujah was reclaimed from militants. Chief Warrant Officer Orrin Bowman, the site commander for the Columbus-based company, confirmed Thursday the company was participating in the operation and had taken casualties. He declined to say how many from the Marine reserve unit had been killed or release any names.

The military has identified two Ohio Marines with the 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment who have died in Iraq since Sunday. Lance Cpl. Wesley G. Davids, 20, of Dublin, was killed in an explosion in Karabilah on Wednesday and Cpl. Dustin A. Derga, 24, of Columbus, was killed by small arms fire in Ubaydi on Sunday, according to the Department of Defense.

Bowman said the unit is in the process of contacting and helping the affected families. Lima is a rifle company that has four platoons, Bowman said. Each platoon has three squads that normally have 13 people but can be reinforced depending on a mission, he said.

Davids left for Iraq in January, last talked to his family four weeks ago and was scheduled to come home in October, his mother said. "While his death is a tragic loss, he died doing something he felt passionately about," Jody Davids said. "He was the best that this country has to offer."

Her son loved working on cars and graduated in 2003 from Dublin Scioto High School, where he was on the crew team. "He was just a very impressive, strong young man," said Russ Merritt, his high school coach. "Wes was kind of an inspiration to all of us. You just had no doubt that he would give 100 percent."

The operation was launched after U.S. intelligence showed large numbers of insurgents had moved into the northern Jazirah Desert following losses in Fallujah and Ramadi, further east. The area is believed to be a staging ground for foreign fighters crossing into Iraq from Syria along ancient smuggling routes.

The offensive started Saturday night and is aimed at rooting out followers of Iraq's most wanted militant leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Link
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=3339149

This post has been edited by big sky brad: May 13 2005, 09:05 PM

[big sky brad]

Explosion Kills 4 Lejeune Marines In Iraq

POSTED: 11:47 am EDT May 16, 2005

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Four Marines attached to II Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune have been killed in combat in Iraq, the military announced Monday.

The four were identified by the Department of Defense as Pfc. Christopher R. Dixon, 18, of Columbus, Ohio; Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Erdy, 21, of Williamsburg, Ohio; Lance Cpl. Jonathan W. Grant, 23, of Santa Fe, N.M.; and Lance Cpl. Jourdan L. Grez, 24, of Harrisonburg, Va.

A statement said the four were killed May 11 when their amphibious assault vehicle struck an explosive device during combat in Karabilah, Iraq.

Dixon and Erdy were assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Columbus, Ohio. Grant was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Albuquerque, N.M., and Grez was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Roanoke, Va.

Their units were attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine

Link -
http://www.nbc17.com/news/4493197/detail.html

[big sky brad]

3 Idaho Marines injured when tank strikes mine
Reservists were fighting militants in western Iraq
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 05-11-2005
Kathleen Kreller
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Marine reservists from Idaho were seriously injured Sunday in Iraq when their tank rolled over a mine.

Staff Sgt. Chad Brumpton, Lance Cpl. Joseph Lowe and Lance Cpl. Mitchell Ehlke are in stable condition, said 1st Lt. Nathan Braden, a Marine spokesman at Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif., who identified the Marines and confirmed that they had been injured.

According to Marine officials at Twenty-Nine Palms, Lowe was evacuated to a medical facility in Germany. Brumpton and Ehlke also were expected to be evacuated to Germany.

The reservists are with Charlie Company, 4th Tank Battalion based in Boise, attached to the 2nd Marine Division while serving in Iraq.

Military officials declined to describe the men's injuries or the exact circumstances of the incident. Braden did say the Marines were in the Anbar Province of far western Iraq, which borders Syria.

According to press accounts, in recent days hundreds of Marines have been working to clear out militants in western Iraq near Syria as part of "Operation Matador."

Brumpton, a tank commander, sustained multiple fractures in both legs and may have a broken hand, said Ginny Brumpton, his mother, who lives in Eagle. She spoke with her son Tuesday morning on the telephone.

"It's hard to take. He sounded pretty busted up, very broken," Ginny Brumpton said.

Bob Brumpton, Chad's father, said he has talked with the families of the other injured Marines. All live in the Treasure Valley, he said. Lowe suffered a broken back and Ehlke's ankle was shattered by the exploding mine, Bob Brumpton said. Chad, 31, has his "pulverized" legs in metal frames called halos, Bob said.

"It went off and threw them around pretty good. They were like BBs in a boxcar," Bob Brumpton said. "My son almost died. He is in terrible shape and terrible pain, and I can't be with him right now. I don't know what's going on in the future."

Another Marine from Chad's platoon pulled the injured men out of their destroyed M1-A1 Abrams tank, Bob Brumpton said. Military officials would not confirm those or other details Tuesday.

Bob Brumpton said he and Ginny are planning to visit their son at a military hospital in Bethesda, Md., when he comes back to the United States. "The Marines have been just first-rate about keeping us informed and it's difficult when it's halfway around the world," Bob Brumpton said.

The Brumptons said they are eager for their son to return to Idaho and resume his life. In civilian life, Chad works as a state prison guard. He spends many hours working on a "fixer-upper" house he purchased, and loves hunting and riding motorcycles. He's been in the Marines for 10 years, his father said.

Link -
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../505110341/1002

The parents and some of the family members of these 3 Marines went to Germany to visit their sons in the hospital.
This one Marine may never walk again.

People have been discussing over the last year or so just how good the Army's Stryker units are in the Iraq War, but these guys were in an Abrams M1-A1 tank, a 72 ton tank!!

[big sky brad]

And when these Marines return to civilian life, they'll find out what relying on veteran's benefits is all about!