Free Republic

With every stroke of sculptor John Phelps’ steady hand, the clay began to take shape. First, there was a skeleton that soon began to look more and more like one Marine in uniform; then there were three. Before long, their faces twisted and contorted to depict the horrors of combat. The nonprofit veteran service organization Hope for the Warriors commissioned Phelps to immortalize the now-iconic “Hell House” photo taken by Lucian Read during the battle for Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. The photo depicted two Marine lance corporals carrying a bloodied 1st Sgt. Bradley Kasal out of a house following a...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The killing of four unarmed detainees during a battle for Fallujah nearly four years ago is the focus of a hearing this week for a Marine sergeant charged with one of the slayings. Sgt. Ryan Weemer is accused of murder and six counts of dereliction of duty in the incident that authorities say took place during the height of fighting for what was then an insurgent stronghold in Iraq's Anbar province. The hearing, scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Thursday, is the latest chapter in a series of cases involving Camp Pendleton troops charged with unlawful killings...

Marine Corps Sergeants Jermaine Nelson and Ryan Weemer will celebrate Independence Day in a Camp Pendleton brig instead of the San Bernardino County Jail, Defend Our Marines has learned. Sergeants Jermaine Nelson and Ryan Weemer, both veterans of the famous "Hell House" fight at Fallujah, Iraq, are currently being held in the San Bernardino County federal lockup for contempt of court charges. They were locked up after refusing to talk to a Grand Jury seated in Riverside, California. A spokesman at Camp Pendleton is still trying to determine whether they have already been transferred to the Camp Pendleton brig at...

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – "I've got your homosexual lifestyle!" the demon cackles. "In hell! AHAHAHA!!!" He laughs as the AIDS patient in the hospital bed is dragged from view by devilish hands. High comedy? Some California entertainers think so. That's a scene from their new live show Hollywood Hellhouse! – a self-styled spoof of Christian fundamentalism. But is the damnation line simple satire, or does it really reflect God's will? The answer depends on your theology. The demon's line is taken directly from a "hell house," a Christian haunted house where ghosts and goblins are replaced by abortions and drug overdoses....

DENVER — Hell House, the controversial morality play first staged at a suburban church for Halloween, is set to be spoofed in a new stage production in Los Angeles starting Aug. 28. With Bill Maher playing Satan and Andy Richter as Jesus, the production will use the original play's script and special effects "to lampoon (Christian) fundamentalist beliefs about hell," producer Maggie Rowe said Monday. "It will be a parody of itself. It will be very funny. We're having a hoot," said Rowe, who represents the Center for Inquiry-West, which says it promotes and defends reason and science. The original...