Marines from Delta Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion, patrol the streets of Vegra, Kosovo. The day prior, Marines from Lima Battery, 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment returned fire on snipers killing one. The Marines are part of Operation JOINT GUARDIAN photo
Scouts ahead during a field exercise, part of
Pfc. Daniel Wingo during a civil outreach mission in a village in the Salah Ad Din province of Iraq May 2, 2008, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
At the Veterans Park in Brownsville, Texas, is a statue of Sgt. Jose M. Lopez carrying a Browning M1919A4- weight 31 lbs. During the Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944, Sgt. Lopez stopped the German Army blitz to over run his company. I once saw, on film, Sgt Lopez speak about his "seemingly suicidal mission" and to hear him say how he would pick up his weapon and cases of machine gun ammo and keep firing and running is just awesome.
The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
LOPEZ, JOSE M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Krinkelt, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: Brownsville, Tex. Birth: Mission, Tex. G.O. No.: 47, 18 June 1945.
Citation:
On his own initiative, he carried his heavy machinegun from Company K's right flank to its left, in order to protect that flank which was in danger of being overrun by advancing enemy infantry supported by tanks. Occupying a shallow hole offering no protection above his waist, he cut down a group of 10 Germans. Ignoring enemy fire from an advancing tank, he held his position and cut down 25 more enemy infantry attempting to turn his flank. Glancing to his right, he saw a large number of infantry swarming in from the front. Although dazed and shaken from enemy artillery fire which had crashed into the ground only a few yards away, he realized that his position soon would be outflanked. Again, alone, he carried his machinegun to a position to the right rear of the sector; enemy tanks and infantry were forcing a withdrawal. Blown over backward by the concussion of enemy fire, he immediately reset his gun and continued his fire. Single-handed he held off the German horde until he was satisfied his company had effected its retirement. Again he loaded his gun on his back and in a hail of small arms fire he ran to a point where a few of his comrades were attempting to set up another defense against the onrushing enemy. He fired from this position until his ammunition was exhausted. Still carrying his gun, he fell back with his small group to Krinkelt. Sgt. Lopez's gallantry and intrepidity, on seemingly suicidal missions in which he killed at least 100 of the enemy, were almost solely responsible for allowing Company K to avoid being enveloped, to withdraw successfully and to give other forces coming up in support time to build a line which repelled the enemy drive.
"When the Exxon Valdez oil tanker accident occurred off the coast of Alaska in 1989, a Dutch team with clean-up equipment flew in to Anchorage airport to offer their help. To their amazement, they were rebuffed and told to go home with their equipment. The Exxon Valdez became the biggest oil spill disaster in U.S. history--until the BP Gulf spill."
Fast forward 21 years and once again: "Three days after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began on April 20, the Netherlands offered the U.S. government ships equipped to handle a major spill, one much larger than the BP spill that then appeared to be underway." "To protect against the possibility that its equipment wouldn't capture all the oil gushing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch also offered to prepare for the U.S. a contingency plan to protect Louisiana's marshlands with sand barriers. One Dutch research institute specializing in deltas, coastal areas and rivers, in fact, developed a strategy to begin building 60-mile-long sand dikes within three weeks."
Michael Yon
Cpl. Thomas R. Ryhal, assistant gunner , Newcastle, Penn., Delta Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, delivering a high-explosive round in a mortar tube(just for practice) in western al-Anbar province, Iraq, Sept. 14/2008
One on the Way! Lance Cpl. Douglas M. Bowker, 20, assistant gunner from Brooklyn, N.Y., Charlie Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, AL-ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq
Lance Cpl. Michael A. Shipman, 21, a small-arms repair specialist with Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, plays the cowbell during a performance with the rock group CatchPenny at Camp Korean Village, Iraq, July 10, 2008.
Pfc. Robert Edwards, mortarman with Company D, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, fires off a SMAW June 10 at Combat Center Range 410. The range will to train units on platoon sized attacks on fixed enemy positions. Photo by Lance Cpl. Michael Nerl
Lance Cpl. Cory Bell, a scout with Company D, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, picks off targets at Combat Center Range 410 June 10. The scouts were given support from their light armored vehicles when running the range.
A recent internal FBI report warns federal, state and local authorities to be alert for a potential new tool in the jihadi terror arsenal – the placing of suspicious, but harmless, bags in public places to inspire fear, disrupt public transportation and tie up police and bomb
PFC Harmon, Company D, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, throws a grappling hook to check barbed wire for boobytraps June 10 at Combat Center Range 410. The range helped the Marines operate outside of their light armored vehicles and clear trenches.Photo by Lance Cpl. Michael Nerl
“This is a beautiful thing...." Moroccan Gen. Abdul Al Aziz Benani, General of the Royal Moroccan Army Corps
First LAR Marines erect a memorial display for Cpl. Jacob Leicht, a friend and fellow Marine killed during a patrol through the Rig District. "If there is an example of determination and selflessness, there is none greater than can be found in Cpl. Leicht," said Lt. Col. Scott Leonard, commanding officer of 1st LAR. "He is a shining beacon to the American public of what is best in the young men of our country, and what is best in her Marines."
Helen Thomas
Scout team leader with Charlie Company, scans a village on the other side of a canal, May 31, near Parghee Bagat. "The people here want what most people want," said Nakamura, 21, from Boulder, Colo. "They don't want to live under oppression, and that's exactly what the Taliban is doing to them." Photo Sgt. Dean Davis
War Pig crewman promoted to current rank during a ceremony at Combat Outpost Station South, in southern Afghanistan, June 1. Photo Sgt. Dean Davis
Team leader promoted to current rank while deployed to Helmand province, Afghanistan,Michael Clauer is a captain in the Army Reserve who commanded over 100 soldiers in Iraq. But while he was fighting for his country, a different kind of battle was brewing on the home front. Last September, Michael returned to Frisco, Texas, to find that his homeowners' association had foreclosed on his $300,000 house—and sold it for $3,500. This story illustrates the type of legal quagmire that can get out of hand while soldiers are serving abroad and their families are dealing with the stress of their deployment. And fixing the mess isn't easy.
Clauer Legal Defense Fund
c/o Plains Capital Bank
1629 Hebron Parkway West
Carrollton, TX 75010
Lance Cpl. Van R. Nicholson, Delta Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion inspects the undercarriage of a truck after stopping it along the Syrian border of Iraq, April 12, 2008
Down Time on 04/11/2003 Delta/Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 
Hospital Corpsmen (HM) assigned with the Delta AfterCompany, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, treat a wounded enemy soldier in Baghdad, Iraq, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. 04/13/2003.
Scouts with White/ Platoon, Delta/Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, prepare to clear a road underpass suspected of hiding Iraqi soldiers during a firefight in Baghdad, Iraq, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. 04/13/2003--photo
1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armor Reconnaissance, give candies to the kids of a local village in the Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq on May 18, 2008. photo/Sgt. Rome M. LazarusRick Leventhal, Fox News, has a story on Bravo First LAR here
"Faces of War" and film segment :The Desert Rats, unfiltered, on Fox News Channel later tonight.
"Officially, they're Bravo Company Marines with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (or 1st L.A.R.)
Their nickname is "Berserkers".
Around the base, though, they're more likely to be called "Desert Rats".
There are REAL desert rats, which have been spotted running across the stone paths between sleeping tents at Forward Operating Base Payne... and then there are these guys, who spend up to 30 days at a time living, sleeping and patrolling the desert sands of Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan.
"Best job I ever had. Best job I probably ever will have." says Captain Adrian Haskamp, an Iraq combat veteran now serving his first tour here.
