Friday, December 31, 2010

1.1.11!! Happy New Year LAR WAR PIGS!!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Ditto:Fiscal Responsibility, ConstitutionallyLimited Government, and Free Markets.

"If Barron speaks for GOProud, as I assume he does, they are a welcome and potentially powerful part of our conservative movement".Powerline

Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, and Free Markets.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

You got questions! He's got answers-Terminal Lance

Terminal Lance is a forum based Q and A style discussion board that just came in on the g-alerts because he has a topic called Ask an LAR Marine. Check out worthy

U.S. Marine with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Platoon feeds 25 mm rounds into the M-242 Bushmaster weapon system of an LAV-25 light armored vehicle prior to a gunnery range exercise at a training area in the Middle East June 25, 2010.
Gunnery Sgt. Chad R. KiehlLocation: unknown
Date Shot: 6/25/2010Date Posted: 12/17/2010

In the Mail-Photo 2LAR Marines 09/2009 Khan Neshin Goggle Alerts

The IBT uses a photo of 2LAR Marines from 2009 on patrol at Khan Neshin. Some faces are recognizable.

Events that shaped the US in the past decade (2000-2010) – Part 3 of 3
International Business Times
IBTimes.com/www/data/images/full/2010/12/29/57285.jpg" alt="US Marines from Delta Company of 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion patrol near the town ...

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Time to kick Democrat/Republican butt is now:

The National Debt Relief Amendment Gains Momentum

Lieutenant General John F. Kelly USMC

"....transcript of an extraordinary speech given by Lieutenant General John F. Kelly USMC on November 13, 2010. What renders it so is that General Kelly's son, First Lieutenant Robert Michael Kelly, was killed in action in Sangin, Afghanistan only four days before Lt. Gen. Kelly gave this speech. Lt. Gen. Kelly's eldest child is also A U.S. Marine."

SEMPER FI SOCIETY OF ST LOUIS SPEECH

LTGEN KELLY on 13 NOV 2010

Nine years ago two of the four commercial aircraft took off from Boston, Newark, and Washington. Took off fully loaded with men, women and children-all innocent, and all soon to die. These aircraft were targeted at the World Trade Towers in New York, the Pentagon, and likely the Capitol in Washington, D.C... Three found their mark. No American alive old enough to remember will ever forget exactly where they were, exactly what they were doing, and exactly who they were with at the moment they watched the aircraft dive into the World Trade Towers on what was, until then, a beautiful morning in New York City. Within the hour 3,000 blameless human beings would be vaporized, incinerated, or crushed in the most agonizing ways imaginable. The most wretched among them-over 200-driven mad by heat, hopelessness, and utter desperation leapt to their deaths from 1,000 feet above Lower Manhattan. We soon learned hundreds more were murdered at the Pentagon, and in a Pennsylvania farmer's field.

Once the buildings had collapsed and the immensity of the attack began to register most of us had no idea of what to do, or where to turn. As a nation, we were scared like we had not been scared for generations. Parents hugged their children to gain as much as to give comfort. Strangers embraced in the streets stunned and crying on one another's shoulders seeking solace, as much as to give it. Instantaneously, American patriotism soared not "as the last refuge" as our national-cynical class would say, but in the darkest times Americans seek refuge in family, and in country, remembering that strong men and women have always stepped forward to protect the nation when the need was dire-and it was so God awful dire that day-and remains so today.

There was, however, a small segment of America that made very different choices that day...actions the rest of America stood in awe of on 9/11 and every day since. The first were our firefighters and police, their ranks decimated that day as they ran towards-not away from-danger and certain death. They were doing what they'd sworn to do-"protect and serve"-and went to their graves having fulfilled their sacred oath. Then there was your Armed Forces, and I know I am a little biased in my opinion here, but the best of them are Marines. Most wearing the Eagle, Globe and Anchor today joined the unbroken ranks of American heroes after that fateful day not for money, or promises of bonuses or travel to exotic liberty ports, but for one reason and one reason alone; because of the terrible assault on our way of life by men they knew must be killed and extremist ideology that must be destroyed. A plastic flag in their car window was not their response to the murderous assault on our country. No, their response was a commitment to protect the nation swearing an oath to their God to do so, to their deaths. When future generations ask why America is still free and the heyday of Al Qaeda and their terrorist allies was counted in days rather than in centuries as the extremists themselves predicted, our hometown heroes-soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines-can say, "because of me and people like me who risked all to protect millions who will never know my name."

As we sit here right now, we should not lose sight of the fact that America is at risk in a way it has never been before. Our enemy fights for an ideology based on an irrational hatred of who we are. Make no mistake about that no matter what certain elements of the "chattering class" relentlessly churn out. We did not start this fight, and it will not end until the extremists understand that we as a people will never lose our faith or our courage. If they persist, these terrorists and extremists and the nations that provide them sanctuary, they must know they will continue to be tracked down and captured or killed. America's civilian and military protectors both here at home and overseas have for nearly nine years fought this enemy to a standstill and have never for a second "wondered why." They know, and are not afraid. Their struggle is your struggle. They hold in disdain those who claim to support them but not the cause that takes their innocence, their limbs, and even their lives. As a democracy-"We the People"-and that by definition is every one of us-sent them away from home and hearth to fight our enemies. We are all responsible. I know it doesn't apply to those of us here tonight but if anyone thinks you can somehow thank them for their service, and not support the cause for which they fight-America's survival-then they are lying to themselves and rationalizing away something in their lives, but, more importantly, they are slighting our warriors and mocking their commitment to the nation.

Since this generation's "day of infamy" the American military has handed our ruthless enemy defeat-after-defeat but it will go on for years, if not decades, before this curse has been eradicated. We have done this by unceasing pursuit day and night into whatever miserable lair Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their allies, might slither into to lay in wait for future opportunities to strike a blow at freedom. America's warriors have never lost faith in their mission, or doubted the correctness of their cause. They face dangers everyday that their countrymen safe and comfortable this night cannot imagine. But this has always been the case in all the wars our military have been sent to fight. Not to build empires, or enslave peoples, but to free those held in the grip of tyrants while at the same time protecting our nation, its citizens, and our shared values. And, ladies and gentlemen, think about this, the only territory we as a people have ever asked for from any nation we have fought alongside, or against, since our founding, the entire extent of our overseas empire, as a few hundred acres of land for the 24 American cemeteries scattered around the globe. It is in these cemeteries where 220,000 of our sons and daughters rest in glory for eternity, or are memorialized forever because their earthly remains are lost forever in the deepest depths of the oceans, or never recovered from far flung and nameless battlefields. As a people, we can be proud because billions across the planet today live free, and billions yet unborn will also enjoy the same freedom and a chance at prosperity because America sent its sons and daughters out to fight and die for them, as much as for us.

Yes, we are at war, and are winning, but you wouldn't know it because successes go unreported, and only when something does go sufficiently or is sufficiently controversial, it is highlighted by the media elite that then sets up the "know it all" chattering class to offer their endless criticism. These self-proclaimed experts always seem to know better-but have never themselves been in the arena. We are at war and like it or not, that is a fact. It is not Bush's war, and it is not Obama's war, it is our war and we can't run away from it. Even if we wanted to surrender, there is no one to surrender to. Our enemy is savage, offers absolutely no quarter, and has a single focus and that is either kill every one of us here at home, or enslave us with a sick form of extremism that serves no God or purpose that decent men and women could ever grasp. St Louis is as much at risk as is New York and Washington, D.C... Given the opportunity to do another 9/11, our merciless enemy would do it today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter. If, and most in the know predict that it is only a matter of time, he acquires nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, these extremists will use these weapons of mass murder against us without a moment's hesitation. These butchers we fight killed more than 3,000 innocents on 9/11. As horrible as that death toll was, consider for a moment that the monsters that organized those strikes against New York and Washington, D.C. killed only 3,000 not because that was enough to make their sick and demented point, but because he couldn't figure out how to kill 30,000, or 300,000, or 30 million of us that terrible day. I don't know why they hate us, and I don't care. We have a saying in the Marine Corps and that is "no better friend, no worse enemy, than a U.S. Marine." We always hope for the first, friendship, but are certainly more than ready for the second. If its death they want, its death they will get, and the Marines will continue showing them the way to hell if that's what will make them happy.

Because our America hasn't been successfully attacked since 9/11 many forget because we want to forget...to move on. As Americans we all dream and hope for peace, but we must be realistic and acknowledge that hope is never an option or course of action when the stakes are so high. Others are less realistic or less committed, or are working their own agendas, and look for ways to blame past presidents or in some other way to rationalize a way out of this war. The problem is our enemy is not willing to let us go. Regardless of how much we wish this nightmare would go away, our enemy will stay forever on the offensive until he hurts us so badly we surrender, or we kill him first. To him, this is not about our friendship with Israel, or about territory, resources, jobs, or economic opportunity in the Middle East. No, it is about us as a people. About our freedom to worship any God we please in any way we want. It is about the worth of every man, and the worth of every woman, and their equality in the eyes of God and the law; of how we live our lives with our families, inside the privacy of our own homes. It's about the God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable right." As Americans we hold these truths to be self-evident. He doesn't. We love what we have; he despises who we are. Our positions can never be reconciled. He cannot be deterred...only defeated. Compromise is out of the question.

It is a fact that our country today is in a life and death struggle against an evil enemy, but America as a whole is certainly not at war. Not as a country. Not as a people. Today, only a tiny fraction-less than a percent-shoulder the burden of fear and sacrifice, and they shoulder it for the rest of us. Their sons and daughters who serve are men and women of character who continue to believe in this country enough to put life and limb on the line without qualification, and without thought of personal gain, and they serve so that the sons and daughters of the other 99% don't have to. No big deal, though, as Marines have always been "the first to fight" paying in full the bill that comes with being free...for everyone else.

The comforting news for every American is that our men and women in uniform, and every Marine, is as good today as any in our history. As good as what their heroic, under-appreciated, and largely abandoned fathers and uncles were in Vietnam, and their grandfathers were in Korea and World War II. They have the same steel in their backs and have made their own mark etching forever places like Ramadi, Fallujah, and Baghdad, Iraq, and Helmand and Sagin, Afghanistan that are now part of the legend and stand just as proudly alongside Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, Inchon, Hue City, Khe Sanh, and Ashau Valley, Vietnam. None of them have every asked what their country could do for them, but always and with their lives asked what they could do for America. While some might think we have produced yet another generation of materialistic, consumeristic and self-absorbed young people, those who serve today have broken the mold and stepped out as real men, and real women, who are already making their own way in life while protecting ours. They know the real strength of a platoon, a battalion, or a country that is not worshiping at the altar of diversity, but in a melting point that stitches and strengthens by a sense of shared history, values, customs, hopes and dreams all of which unifies a people making them stronger, as opposed to an unruly gaggle of "hyphenated" or "multi-cultural individuals."

And what are they like in combat in this war? Like Marines have been throughout our history. In my three tours in combat as an infantry officer and commanding general, I never saw one of them hesitate, or do anything other than lean into the fire and with no apparent fear of death or injury take the fight to our enemies. As anyone who has ever experienced combat knows, when it starts, when the explosions and tracers are everywhere and the calls for the Corpsman are screamed from the throats of men who know they are dying-when seconds seem like hours and it all becomes slow motion and fast forward at the same time-and the only rational act is to stop, get down, save yourself-they don't. When no one would call them coward for cowering behind a wall or in a hole, slave to the most basic of all human instincts-survival-none of them do. It doesn't matter if it's an IED, a suicide bomber, mortar attack, sniper, fighting in the upstairs room of a house, or all of it at once; they talk, swagger, and, most importantly, fight today in the same way America's Marines have since the Tun Tavern. They also know whose shoulders they stand on, and they will never shame any Marine living or dead.

We can also take comfort in the fact that these young Americans are not born killers, but are good and decent young men and women who for going on ten years have performed remarkable acts of bravery and selflessness to a cause they have decided is bigger and more important than themselves. Only a few months ago they were delivering your paper, stocking shelves in the local grocery store, worshiping in church on Sunday, or playing hockey on local ice. Like my own two sons who are Marines and have fought in Iraq, and today in Sagin, Afghanistan, they are also the same kids that drove their cars too fast for your liking, and played the God-awful music of their generation too loud, but have no doubt they are the finest of their generation. Like those who went before them in uniform, we owe them everything. We owe them our safety. We owe them our prosperity. We owe them our freedom. We owe them our lives. Any one of them could have done something more self-serving with their lives as the vast majority of their age group elected to do after high school and college, but no, they chose to serve knowing full well a brutal war was in their future. They did not avoid the basic and cherished responsibility of a citizen-the defense of country-they welcomed it. They are the very best this country produces, and have put every one of us ahead of themselves. All are heroes for simply stepping forward, and we as a people owe a debt we can never fully pay. Their legacy will be of selfless valor, the country we live in, the way we live our lives, and the freedoms the rest of their countrymen take for granted.

Over 5,000 have died thus far in this war; 8,000 if you include the innocents murdered on 9/11. They are overwhelmingly working class kids, the children of cops and firefighters, city and factory workers, school teachers and small business owners. With some exceptions they are from families short on stock portfolios and futures, but long on love of country and service to the nation. Just yesterday, too many were lost and a knock on the door late last night brought their families to their knees in a grief that will never-ever go away. Thousands more have suffered wounds since it all started, but like anyone who loses life or limb while serving others-including our firefighters and law enforcement personnel who on 9/11 were the first casualties of this war-they are not victims as they knew what they were about, and were doing what they wanted to do. The chattering class and all those who doubt America's intentions, and resolve, endeavor to make them and their families out to be victims, but they are wrong. We who have served and are serving refuse their sympathy. Those of us who have lived in the dirt, sweat and struggle of the arena are not victims and will have none of that. Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when men and women of character step forward to look danger and adversity straight in the eye, refusing to blink, or give ground, even to their own deaths. The protected can't begin to understand the price paid so they and their families can sleep safe and free at night. No, they are not victims, but are warriors, your warriors, and warriors are never victims regardless of how and where they fall. Death, or fear of death, has no power over them. Their paths are paved by sacrifice, sacrifices they gladly make...for you. They prove themselves everyday on the field of battle...for you. They fight in every corner of the globe...for you. They live to fight...for you, and they never rest because there is always another battle to be won in the defense of America.

I will leave you with a story about the kind of people they are...about the quality of the steel in their backs...about the kind of dedication they bring to our country while they serve in uniform and forever after as veterans. Two years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 "The Walking Dead," and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi. One battalion in the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the other just starting its seven-month combat tour. Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines. The same broken down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police, also my men and our allies in the fight against the terrorists in Ramadi, a city until recently the most dangerous city on earth and owned by Al Qaeda. Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island. They were from two completely different worlds. Had they not joined the Marines they would never have met each other, or understood that multiple America's exist simultaneously depending on one's race, education level, economic status, and where you might have been born. But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.

The mission orders they received from the sergeant squad leader I am sure went something like: "Okay you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass." "You clear?" I am also sure Yale and Haerter then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like: "Yes Sergeant," with just enough attitude that made the point without saying the words, "No kidding sweetheart, we know what we're doing." They then relieved two other Marines on watch and took up their post at the entry control point of Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia section of Ramadi, al Anbar, Iraq.

A few minutes later a large blue truck turned down the alley way-perhaps 60-70 yards in length-and sped its way through the serpentine of concrete jersey walls. The truck stopped just short of where the two were posted and detonated, killing them both catastrophically. Twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or destroyed. A mosque 100 yards away collapsed. The truck's engine came to rest two hundred yards away knocking most of a house down before it stopped. Our explosive experts reckoned the blast was made of 2,000 pounds of explosives. Two died, and because these two young infantrymen didn't have it in their DNA to run from danger, they saved 150 of their Iraqi and American brothers-in-arms.

When I read the situation report about the incident a few hours after it happened I called the regimental commander for details as something about this struck me as different. Marines dying or being seriously wounded is commonplace in combat. We expect Marines regardless of rank or MOS to stand their ground and do their duty, and even die in the process, if that is what the mission takes. But this just seemed different. The regimental commander had just returned from the site and he agreed, but reported that there were no American witnesses to the event-just Iraqi police. I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened and then to decorate the two Marines to acknowledge their bravery, I'd have to do it as a combat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we figured the bureaucrats back in Washington would never buy Iraqi statements. If it had any chance at all, it had to come under the signature of a general officer.

I traveled to Ramadi the next day and spoke individually to a half-dozen Iraqi police all of whom told the same story. The blue truck turned down into the alley and immediately sped up as it made its way through the serpentine. They all said, "We knew immediately what was going on as soon as the two Marines began firing." The Iraqi police then related that some of them also fired, and then to a man, ran for safety just prior to the explosion. All survived. Many were injured...some seriously. One of the Iraqis elaborated and with tears welling up said, "They'd run like any normal man would to save his life." "What he didn't know until then," he said, "and what he learned that very instant, was that Marines are not normal." Choking past the emotion he said, "Sir, in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what they did." "No sane man." "They saved us all."

What we didn't know at the time, and only learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary and submitted both Yale and Haerter for posthumous Navy Crosses, was that one of our security cameras, damaged initially in the blast, recorded some of the suicide attack. It happened exactly as the Iraqis had described it. It took exactly six seconds from when the truck entered the alley until it detonated.

You can watch the last six seconds of their young lives. Putting myself in their heads I supposed it took about a second for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of the alley. Exactly no time to talk it over, or call the sergeant to ask what they should do. Only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before: "...let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass." The two Marines had about five seconds left to live.

It took maybe another two seconds for them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up. By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole time. Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men they were-some running right past the Marines. They had three seconds left to live.

For about two seconds more, the recording shows the Marines' weapons firing non-stop...the truck's windshield exploding into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the body of the son-of-a-bitch who is trying to get past them to kill their brothers-American and Iraqi-bedded down in the barracks totally unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely on two Marines standing their ground. If they had been aware, they would have know they were safe...because two Marines stood between them and a crazed suicide bomber. The recording shows the truck careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines. In all of the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread should width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons. They had only one second left to live.

The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young men go to their God. Six seconds. Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty...into eternity. That is the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight-for you.

We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift he could bestow to man while he lived on this earth-freedom. We also believe he gave us another gift nearly as precious-our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines-to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can every steal it away. It has been my distinct honor to have been with you here today. Rest assured our America, this experiment in democracy started over two centuries ago, will forever remain the "land of the free and home of the brave" so long as we never run out of tough young Americans who are willing to look beyond their own self-interest and comfortable lives, and go into the darkest and most dangerous places on earth to hunt down, and kill, those who would do us harm. God Bless America, and...SEMPER FIDELIS!

http://www.marines.mil/unit/marforres/CMFR/blog/CMFR101113.aspx

Cpl. David Collins,2LAR

Cpl. David Collins, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Platoon, Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team,flossing the War Pig M-240 machine gun at a training area somewhere in the Middle East June 25, 2010.photo Gunnery Sgt. Chad R. Kiehl

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Sgt. Edgar Morales, 1LAR, Family Christmas Day Surprise

Cars 4 Causes and Project Hollywood Cares Gifts War Veteran with Car (Photo Credit: Carmen Williams)

War Veteran Receives Christmas Day Surprise

Cars 4 Causes Partners with Project: Hollywood Cares to Donate Much Needed Vehicle to Military Family

LOS ANGELES---Cars 4 Causes®, the charity that gives to charities, today announced its donation of a Volkswagen Phaeton car to Project: Hollywood Cares for gifting to the Morales family on Christmas Day. Looking to donate the car to a veteran in need, Cars 4 Causes sought out local military-focused charity, Project: Hollywood Cares, to source a deserving family for this special Christmas giveaway. At 11am today in Hawthorne, California, Cars 4 Causes and Project: Hollywood Cares surprised returning war veteran, Edgar Morales, with the car at their home.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to have worked with Cars 4 Causes when the idea of helping a returning service member in need with the surprise gift of a car on Christmas Day was presented”

Edgar, a Sergeant in the U.S .Marine Corp, returned home in November after completing a 7 month tour in Afghanistan. With Edgar having a 3 plus hour daily commute to report to Camp Pendleton each day, his wife Wilma in school finishing her degree, a new baby at home and only one vehicle between them, the Morales’s were very much in need of reliable transportation.

“I can’t believe this surprise on Christmas Day! I am shocked and so grateful for this car,” said Edgar Morales, Sergeant in the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Supply division at Camp Pendleton. “Thank you very much to Cars 4 Causes and Project: Hollywood Cares. This car is perfect and it will be a huge help to me and my family.”

“We are thrilled to have partnered with Project: Hollywood Cares to give this great vehicle to the deserving and gracious Morales family on Christmas Day,” said Matt Smith, Director of Cars 4 Causes®. “A main focus of Cars 4 Causes is to ensure that help goes where it is needed, so to see this final outcome of people’s charity is what it’s all about at the end of the day. This is a very fulfilling way for us to end the year, and also encouraging for continuing our hard work in 2011.”

Cars 4 Causes®, America’s first vehicle donation charity, accepts donations of all vehicles - cars, boats, motorcycles, and RV’s - expertly evaluates each donation and, if cost effective makes necessary repairs in order to sell the vehicle while ensuring the highest tax deduction value and net proceeds to charity. A select number of vehicles, one car per month, are set aside for donation directly to families in need through the Cars 4 Causes® Give-Away Program, as is the case with the Morales family.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to have worked with Cars 4 Causes when the idea of helping a returning service member in need with the surprise gift of a car on Christmas Day was presented,” said Tom Fick, founder of Project: Hollywood Cares. “After ten years of multiple wartime deployments, helping returning soldiers in need is a very important mission for our nonprofit. After serving numerous multiple deployments, our military personnel are faced with many difficult challenges when returning home. The Veterans Administration is overwhelmed and laden with problems, therefore it’s so important for the nonprofit sector to step up and provide support. In this case, Cars 4 Causes was the perfect fit for a U.S. Marine and the Morales family, and this Vet looks forward to more initiatives like this to support our returning soldiers and veterans as we continue to ask for more service and sacrifice from them.”

Project: Hollywood Cares distributes products of the entertainment industry, such as DVDs of popular movies, to deployed troops, wounded soldiers in military hospitals and the surviving spouse & children of fallen heroes in efforts to support America's military personnel for their dedicated service and sacrifice. As the charity grows through various partnerships and greater awareness, expanded programs of special projects, events, outings and hospital visits begin to offer additional support to the mission.

To see how you can help through these charities, please visit www.cars4causes.net and www.projecthollywoodcares.org.

About Cars 4 Causes

Originally founded in 1997 by concerned parents to support education for children with disabilities, Cars 4 Causes® is a 501(c)(3) charity that accepts vehicle donations, evaluates and makes cost-effective repairs if warranted, sells them to consumers and dealers, and then donates the proceeds to the charity of the donors’ choosing. Using three main areas of sale – retail, wholesale, and clean air, Cars 4 Causes® is able to receive the highest return on vehicle donation in the industry. Since its founding, Cars 4 Causes® has received over $100 million in donations from over 150,000 vehicles, and has shared proceeds with over 15,000 charities.

About Project: Hollywood Cares

Project: Hollywood Cares is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation supported by concerned citizens, veterans, volunteers and entertainment industry professionals. It's threefold mission is designed to boost morale, express gratitude and improve quality of life military issues while supporting America's service personnel presently tasked with multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan & Iraq, help wounded soldiers rehabilitating in military hospitals and provide financial support & assistance to the surviving spouse and children of our fallen heroes killed in action. PHC's detailed command support program provides large entertainment libraries which include the four major products of Hollywood, (Emmy nominated television programs, feature films, music CDs and video games). The charity conducts a wide program of visits, outings, events and special projects in support of active duty personnel, military families and rehabilitating wounded soldiers.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6555954&lang=en

Contacts

The Rose Group
Jessie Comstock/Claire Gendel
310-280-3710
jessie@therosegrp.com
Claire@therosegrp.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101225005009/en/War-Veteran-Receives-Christmas-Day-Surprise

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas to All the LAR BN's!!!

JUST How Stupid are Republicans?

WASHINGTON EXAMINER EDITORIAL: Voters elected Republicans to end Obamaism, not expand it.

BRAIN DEAD STUPID

“’Twas a Night in December,”

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2010 – Service members stationed from Antarctica to Afghanistan lent their talents and time to craft a video for a poem titled “’Twas a Night in December,” based on Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” but rewritten with a military twist.

Cpl. Wesley Carpenter, Chief Scout Echo 3LAR

Christmas cheer flows through Camp Leatherneck

Regional Command Southwest

Story by Lance Cpl. Jeremy Fasci

Date: 12.25.2010

Posted: 12.25.2010 05:50

News ID: 62589

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Singers from the Navy, Air Force, Army and Marine Corps sang Christmas carols for recovering service members and those eating their Christmas meal at the dining facilities at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Dec. 25.

The singing of all the usual Christmas songs boosted the morale of those away from friends and family during the holiday season. The carolers visited the hospital on Camp Bastion and the wounded warrior program to increase the spirits of all the injured service members recovering and waiting to return to their units.

“Some of the Marines are down but them coming and singing brings out the cheer,” said Cpl. Wesley Carpenter, the chief scout for echo company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division. “It gives us the Christmas spirit, brings everybody’s mood up and lets us know that people care and want us to feel better.”

Santa Claus traveled with the carolers and took pictures with service members, danced and laughed.

These small gestures gave the wounded warriors a morale boost while they are away from their friends, family and other members of their units who are still working hard to provide security in Helmand province.

“Even though we are very far away from home, it brought some of home to us,” said Carpenter, from Raleigh, N.C.

Friday, December 24, 2010

The Price of Freedom

Marine Lance Cpl. Kevin E. Oratowski
23, of Wheaton, Ill.; assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Aug. 18 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. link

Marine Lance Cpl. Shane R. Martin

July 29, 2010
23, of Spring, Texas; assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died July 29 ... [Read More]

Marine Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht

May 27, 2010
24, of College Station, Texas; assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.;... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Frank J. World

April 01, 2010
25, of Buffalo, N.Y.; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died April 1... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Randy M. Heck

March 28, 2010
20, of Steubenville, Ohio; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Ma... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni

March 24, 2010
19, of Yorba Linda, Calif.; assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4thMarine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.;... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Maj. Robert J. Cottle

March 24, 2010
45, of Whittier, Calif.; assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4thMarine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.; d... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Nigel K. Olsen

March 04, 2010
21, of Orem, Utah; assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died March 4 in Hel... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Carlos A. Aragon

March 01, 2010
19, of Orem, Utah; assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died March... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. David J. Smith

January 26, 2010
25, of Frederick, Md.; assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died J... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Zachary D. Smith

January 24, 2010
19, of Hornell, N.Y.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Jan. 24 while suppo... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole

January 24, 2010
22, of Bowling Green, Ky.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; died Jan. 24 whil... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Daniel M. Angus

January 24, 2010
28, of Thonotosassa, Fla.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Jan. 24 while ... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Jeremy M. Kane

January 23, 2010
22, of Towson, Md.; assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Jan.... [Read More]

Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Xin Qi

January 23, 2010
25, of Cordova, Tenn.; assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Expeditionary Brigade–Afghanistan; died Jan. 23, while supporting combat o... [Read More]

Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Xin Qi

January 23, 2010
25, of Cordova, Tenn.; assigned to Fourth Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan; died Jan. 23, while supporting combat oper... [Read More]

October 9, 2009

Major Mike E. Weston, former XO B4LAR, died in western Afghanistan on 26 October 2009, when the U.S. Military helicopter he was in crashed while returning from a joint U.S. Military-DEA counternarcotics mission in western Afghanistan. In August 2006, after only nine months in the United States, Major Mike Weston volunteered for his third combat tour to Iraq, where he served as the Executive Officer for Company B, 4^th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. There, he served in Ramadi and commanded a Provisional Riverine Detachment and later served as advisor to the Iraqi Police.

Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Fowlkes

September 10, 2009
20, of Gaffney, S.C.; assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.;... [Read More]

Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Benjamin P. Castiglione

September 03, 2009
21, of Howell, Mich.; was assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Sep... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Baltazar Jr.

September 03, 2009
19, of San Antonio; was assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Sept. 3 w... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Ryan H. Lane

July 23, 2009
25, of Pittsburgh; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died July 23 in... [Read More]

Marine Gunnery Sgt. David S. Spicer

July 13, 2009
33, of Zanesfield, Ohio; assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune,... [Read More]

Marine Master Sgt. Jerome D. Hatfield

July 11, 2009
36, of Axton, Va.; assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C

Marine Lance Cpl. Pedro A. Barbozaflores

July 11, 2009
27, of Glendale, Calif.; assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died July 11 ... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Drew W. Weaver

February 21, 2008
20, of St. Charles, Mo.; assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; died... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Cristian Vasquez

August 02, 2007
20, of Coalinga, Calif.; assigned to1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Aug. 2... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Chad M. Allen

February 28, 2007
25, of Maple Lake, Minn.; assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Feb. 28... [Read More]

Marine 2nd Lt. Mark C. Gelina

November 04, 2006
33, of Moberly, Mo.; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Nov. 4 f... [Read More]

Marine Cpl. Benjamin S. Rosales

October 04, 2006
20, of Houston; assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Oct. 4 while co... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Edward M. Garvin

October 04, 2006
19, of Malden, Mass.; assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Oct. 4 wh... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris

September 03, 2006
23, of Las Vegas, N.M.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed Se... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman

August 20, 2006
21, of Bend, Ore.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed Aug. 20... [Read More]

Marine Cpl. Adam A. Galvez

August 20, 2006
21, of Salt Lake City; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed Aug... [Read More]

Navy Hospitalman Chadwick T. Kenyon

August 20, 2006
20, of Tucson, Ariz.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; died Aug. 2... [Read More]

Marine Pfc. Jason Hanson

July 29, 2006
21, of Forks, Wash.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed July ... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Christian B. Williams

July 29, 2006
27, of Winter Haven, Fla.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield

July 29, 2006
19, of Clovis, Calif.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed Jul... [Read More]

Marine Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus

July 29, 2006
28, of Wolf Creek, Mont.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed ... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Jeremy P. Tamburello

November 08, 2005
19, of Denver, Colo., assigned to the 1st Light Armor Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Nov. 8 fro... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Chad R. Hildebrandt

October 17, 2005
22, of Springer, N.M.; assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Scott R. Bubb

October 17, 2005
19, of Grottoes, Va.; assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached ... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Bryan J. Opskar

July 23, 2005
32, of Princeton, Minn.; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Ju... [Read More]

Marine Cpl. Clifton B. Mounce

July 14, 2005
22, of Pontotoc, Miss.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; attached to 2nd L... [Read More]

Marine Cpl. Christopher D. Winchester

July 14, 2005
23, of Flomaton, Ala.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; attached to 2nd Li... [Read More]

Marine Corps Pfc. Nathan B. Clemons

June 14, 2005
20, of Winchester, Tenn.; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed J... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. John J. Mattek Jr.

June 13, 2005
24, of Stevens Point, Wis.; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Tenzin Dengkhim

April 02, 2005
19, of Falls Church, Va.; assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed A... [Read More]

Marine Sgt. Zachariah S. Davis

January 06, 2005
25, of Twentynine Palms, Calif.; assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.&#... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Jason E. Smith

December 31, 2004
21, of Phoenix; assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Dec. 31 by e... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Blake A. Magaoay

November 29, 2004
20, of Pearl City, Hawaii; assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed N... [Read More]

Marine Staff Sgt. Theodore S. Holder II

Died November 11, 2004 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

27, of Littleton, Colo.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov 11 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle W. Burns

November 11, 2004
20, of Laramie, Wyo.; assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov 11... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Justin D. Reppuhn

November 10, 2004
20, of Hemlock, Mich.; assigned to 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov. ... [Read More]

Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Gadsden

October 22, 2004
21, of Charleston, S.C.;( Wounded 21 August, 2004 in al Anbar Province, Iraq and succumbed to those injuries 22 October 2004 He was attached to 1st LAR at the time of his injuries but was with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1 Marine Division.. ) assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Oct. 22 at the Jam... [Read More]