Free Republic

Marines, Not Soldiers Published: Jan 28, 2002 I have a complaint about some of the news readers for the local television stations, and I am sure there are countless other Marines with the same one. It is galling to hear the news readers referring to Marines as ``soldiers.'' Marines are not soldiers; they are Marines and always will be. There is no such thing as an ex-Marine or a former Marine. We are all ``Marines,'' period. Soldiers are members of the Army and sailors are members of the Navy. You wouldn't call a soldier a sailor, so why would you...

"throwing human flesh against reinforced concrete." Sixty years ago today, U.S. Navy landing craft loaded with thousands of U.S. Marines began churning toward a tiny, eight-square-mile chunk of volcanic rock jutting out the Pacific Ocean. The island, Iwo Jima, was about to become the scene of a month long battle between U.S. forces and Iwo's Japanese defenders. It was a battle that some historians have since described as “throwing human flesh against reinforced concrete.” It would define the modern Marine Corps. President Franklin D. Roosevelt would gasp in horror upon learning of the American casualties (7,000 Americans were killed, another...

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~ John Basilone (Info found here here)             John Basilone (November 4, 1916 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. He was the only enlisted Marine in...

The heroics of Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone of Raritan, the only enlisted Marine in World War II to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart, will be part of a sprawling HBO miniseries from executive producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. The Somerset County legend, honored each year with a parade through the borough, helped hold off thousands of Japanese troops at Guadalcanal as all but two other members of his small unit were killed. "'Manila John" Basilone, who served in the Army in the Philippines before enlisting the Marines, later fought and...

WASHINGTON - Marine Corps hero "Chesty" Puller would have been proud to be honored with a postage stamp, but he would have wanted to include the face of every Marine he served with, his daughter said Tuesday. Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Puller and three other Marines — Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly and Lt. Gen. John A. Lejeune — are on a set of four 37-cent stamps being unveiled Thursday in ceremonies at the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington and Camp Pendleton, Calif. The stamps go on sale nationwide the same day. The Postal Service gets...

John BasiloneGunnery Sergeant, United States Marine Corps Sgt. John BasiloneThe 2005 Commemorative Stamp ProgramG/Sgt. John Basilone Stamp Petition107th CONGRESS    MOH Citation for John BasiloneJohn Basilone - Italian-American Marine HeroHonor a True Hero - Sgt. John BasiloneThe John Basilone Memorial Parade - "Raritan's Hero"Sgt. John Basilone Foundation, Inc.  Honor WWII Hero Sgt. John BasiloneNJ.com: Somerset Vets       Marines salute WWII hero The John Basilone Stamp Campaign        True HeroesWorld War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Gunnery Sgt John Basilone, USMCStamp News Archive at Stamp's Value       The John Basilone Books and Videos

If the snow was packed hard, the kids from Goosepatch could belly-flop on a sled all the way across the highway, across the railroad tracks and into downtown Raritan, N.J. They had to dodge horse-drawn carriages, rickety cars and the occasional train, but if they leaned just right, they could make it. And that's about as far as the kids from Goosepatch could go. The slightly higher elevation was about all the derisively named neighborhood had to offer – other than the wild geese, which outnumbered the people. It was the outskirts of town, the side of the tracks most...

John Basilone Stamp Drive Petition Requesting the U.S. Postal service to Issue a stamp to Honor Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone, USMC Medal of Honor Recipient for his heroic actions on Guadalcanal And Navy Cross recipient for his actions on Iwo Jima where he was killed in action.