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U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker was buried Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday morning.

Watch the Full Program Online Warning: Graphic Language and violent imagery Viewer Discretion Advised. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/view/

Oct. 25, 2009 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: In 1942, it came down to one Marine It's hard to envision -- or, for the dwindling few, to remember -- what the world looked like on Oct. 26, 1942, when a few thousand U.S. Marines stood essentially stranded on the God-forsaken jungle island of Guadalcanal, placed like a speed bump at the end of the long blue-water slot between New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the most likely route for the Japanese Navy to take if they hoped to reach Australia.On Guadalcanal, the Marines struggled to complete an airfield....

Arielle Levin Becker of the Washington Post wrote about John Philip Sousa’s professional stature as regards his past association with the Marine Corps Band: If there’s any question about the place Sousa has in the band’s memory, a visit to the director’s office settles any doubts.  Sousa is immortalized in four photographs and paintings, including one of him in a Navy uniform, and perhaps in a fifth — there is speculation that, in the front row of a Civil War-era photograph of the band, a young Sousa is hiding between two trombone players. The baton that [departing U.S. Marine band...

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military, according to a former senior Pentagon official. Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays in the military, especially in the middle of two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly gay colleagues. But Gen. Conway has gone further than others...

Under the harsh sunlight, a lone grey donkey sauntered across one end of a silent street; halfway down the far end, a US marine lay in the dirt, exposed and alone — brushing the dust from a pressure plate linked to a massive bomb. A few days ago this town, deep in Taliban territory, was thronged with up to 800 residents and traders. This is Helmand’s biggest drugs market, but today all but a handful of Kuchi, the Afghan nomads, have vanished. Somehow the Taliban knew the marines were coming. Rather than fight openly, they left behind a booby-trapped ghost...

Investigators are trying to determine why a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 airplane and a U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopter collided on Thursday night, likely killing nine crew members. Aircraft and ships are scouring the ocean off San Diego for any signs of survivors of the nighttime collision, but Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the crash likely killed both the plane's seven crew members and the two-person crew of the AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter.Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the crash occurred minutes after control of the C-130 was handed off from FAA controllers to military air controllers.

Launching An American Knight in Washington Written by John Horvat    Thursday, October 29, 2009 On October 27, the TFP Washington Bureau was filled with friends and supporters to hear a presentation on the book, An American Knight The Life of Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC just authored by TFP member Norman Fulkerson. The author presented the book to a full and lively auditorium of some 50 people and later personally signed copies. As a special guest, Duke Paul of Oldenburg from the German TFP, gave the opening remarks commenting on the meaning of chivalry today. Also attending was...

BreakingNews San Diego media: 9 missing after collision of Coast Guard C-130 and Marine Cobra helicopter off the SD coast. BNO News working to confirm.

As Baker's flag-draped casket was lowered from a small charter jet into the hands of six fellow Marines, his family and friends stood arm-in-arm, weeping on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Stillness and silence dominated the scene. The sound of passenger planes taking off and landing was drowned out by the weight of the scene unfolding at ground level. That silence was broken only when a police bagpiper began playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." Baker's casket then was loaded into a waiting hearse, and scores of policemen and firefighters — from no fewer than 25 area...

It was the last way John Bernard would have wanted his voice to gain prominence in the national debate over the war in Afghanistan. The retired Marine had been writing to lawmakers for weeks complaining of the new rules of engagement he believed put U.S. troops at unacceptable risk in the insurgency-wracked country. He got little response. Then Bernard's only son, 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard — a Marine like his dad — was killed in an insurgent ambush in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province, the latest victim of a surge in U.S. combat deaths. Three weeks later, Joshua became the...

As Marines here train to deploy to war zones, there is daily discussion about how to detect and disarm the buried roadside bombs that are the No. 1 killer of Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military researchers have found that two groups of personnel were particularly good at spotting anomalies: those with hunting backgrounds, who traipsed the woods as youths, looking to bag a deer or turkey; and those who grew up in tough urban neighborhoods where it is often important to know what gang controls which block. Personnel who fit neither category, often young men who grew up in...

When Gunnery Sgt. Marcus Hyman was told he’d get to sit down with Barack Obama on Monday, the Marine knew what he wanted to find out: What’s the president’s plan for Afghanistan? Obama didn’t go into great detail answering Hyman, the young man said after their chat, but the future of the faltering war was clearly on the president’s mind during his afternoon visit to Jacksonville Naval Air Station. (snip) Not everyone in the audience was as excited — some sailors said they were upset about being ordered to come — but for many, the speech was a unique opportunity.

The Marine Corps earned bragging rights during the 9th annual U.S. Army International Sniper Competition at Fort Benning, Ga., last week, when Leathernecks from the Corps' Scout Sniper School (West) in Camp Pendleton, Calif., claimed the title of top marksmen.

It's hard to envision -- or, for the dwindling few, to remember -- what the world looked like on Oct. 26, 1942, when a few thousand U.S. Marines stood essentially stranded on the God-forsaken jungle island of Guadalcanal, placed like a speed bump at the end of the long blue-water slot between New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the most likely route for the Japanese Navy to take if they hoped to reach Australia. On Guadalcanal, the Marines struggled to complete an airfield. Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto knew what that meant. No effort would be spared to dislodge these upstart...

<p>This photograph from Afghanistan recently made rounds on the Facebook and e-mail accounts of folks whose work centers on military women's issues.</p> <p>The image itself didn't surprise them. It showed four Marines resting at a makeshift patrol base, their guns and helmets propped up against the familiar dusty backdrop of an Asian battlefield. Two of the Marines seemed to be snacking. One picked at her foot.</p>

A mile from South Station, an outpost of US marines in Helmand province, the tribal chief was openly hostile. “The Americans threaten our economy and take our land for bases. They promise much and deliver nothing,” he said. “People here regard the American troops as occupiers,” said Haji Khan, a leader of the Baluch tribe, who rules like a medieval baron. “Young people are turning against them and in time will fight them.” Inside South Station, soldiers are proud of the progress...Until they arrived, this remote part of Helmand had not had a government presence for years. But many are...

Some of the vets needed canes or wheelchairs to navigate the vast decks of the new Navy amphibious assault ship Makin Island...Legions of military VIPs will attend this morning...None will be held in higher esteem than the World War II Marine Raiders who sacked an enemy-held island in the Western Pacific, boosting American morale during the dark early days of the war, when the enemy seemed unstoppable. ...“Just to be able to sit down and have a beer with these guys — I'm star-struck,” said Lt. Cmdr. Matt Polzin, 39, of Bay City, Mich., who served as a guide for...

Japan's new government appeared to bow to pressure from US military officials, saying on Friday that Tokyo supports keeping a major US marine airfield on the southern island of Okinawa. The move narrows - but does not close - a rift between the two alliance partners ahead of President Barack Obama's visit in three weeks. The new Tokyo administration, elected in a landslide in August, has said it would assert a more independent stance from Washington than previous administrations. However, Tokyo does not want to unduly strain ties with its chief ally and key trading partner. The government of Yukio...

The community remembers the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit of 1983 as brave troops who suffered great losses in Beirut in one of the most devastating non-nuclear bombings of all time. Retired Marine Col. Timothy Geraghty remembers them as “my men.” Geraghty will be in Jacksonville today to commemorate the anniversary of the bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed nearly 300 peacekeeping troops, 241 of whom were Marines and sailors under his command. Twenty-six years after the event, he has told the story of Beirut in his own words.

It was 4 years ago today that I kissed him goodbye as he left for boot camp in Parris Island. Can't believe how fast the time has flown!

A day after learning Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker made the ultimate sacrifice, local residents who knew him continue to honor and remember the young man from Painesville Township. Baker, 22, was killed by an improvised explosive device Tuesday in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. He joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Riverside High School in 2006. "Every time I saw David he had a smile on his face. He was a great person, good-natured and very bright," Wade said. "We are all shocked and saddened by the loss of one of our students. I will always...

With 15 miles (25km) of pristine, undeveloped beachfront property in southern California, it is difficult to imagine wanting to live anywhere else. But for many of the marines at Camp Pendleton, one place beckons above all others. "Afghanistan," says Lance Cpl Alejandra Esqueda, when asked where she would like to be deployed next. "I actually look forward to it. I'm hopefully going to Afghanistan to finish what we got to do there… I've already been to Iraq. Afghanistan is the new place to be." Thirst for action Lance Cpl Esqueda is one of hundreds of marines on the beach preparing...

A resident will take his first step into the ethical morass of war tonight...with a cinematic debut that explores “what you have to do to come home alive.” In April 2006, amid heavy fighting, seven Marines and one Navy corpsman were given orders to capture a known insurgent in the Iraqi village of Hamdania, located west of Baghdad. The group kidnapped and killed the insurgent’s cousin, Hashim Ibrahim Awad, instead. The eight involved in the incident — the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment Kilo Company — became known as the Pendleton 8 and were held at Camp Pendleton before charges...

Most people who lose a leg dream of walking again. For adaptive athlete Jarem Frye, the inventor of a spring-loaded prosthetic knee transforming the lives of amputees, that wasn't nearly enough. He wanted to fly. Jarem Frye at his office in Mcminnville, Oregon (Photograph by Annie Marie Musselman) WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE a military propaganda video showing footage of U.S. Marines on patrol—protecting an Iraqi neighborhood from insurgents—now lives on the Internet, where you can see Garrett Jones's last steps as a whole-bodied man. The 15-second clip, shot in July 2007 in the city of Karmah, is poor in...

With political and public attention once again focused on the sacrifices made by our military in Afghanistan, it's more important than ever to remember American heroes who set an example for us all. In this first cradle-to-grave biography of Colonel John W. Ripley, author Norman Fulkerson tells the extraordinary life story of a Marine Corps hero of legendary stature; the selfless leader of combat troops and embodiment of "Semper Fi." "If a young officer or Marine ever asks what is the meaning of Semper Fidelis," Col. Ripley once told a friend, "tell them my story." This is his story!

I have to say I am outraged tonight. One of my closest friends on this planet said good bye to her 19 year old son tonight as he is shipping off from Cherry Point on Friday in N.C. to Afghanistan...in Helmand to be exact which is in the southern portion of the toilet for a country. This will be his first tour ever and tonight he was telling me how he had to spend over $3,000.00 on his own armor and gear to leave with. That the clips for his weapons that he was issued didn't even fit the weapons...

Armed Forces hits recruiting goalsMilitary Recruitment Hits 35 Year High 10-19-09 Last Update: 7:47 pm Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - For the first time in 35 years, all branches of the military met their recruiting goals for 2009. The Army had more than 70,000 people sign up; the Navy had close to 36,000; the Marine Corps got 31,000 new recruits and the Air Force came in with close to 32,000. The high unemployment rate, coupled with increased education costs, is at the heart of the successful recruiting campaign. Recruiting tactics haven't changed. Recruiters still work hard to reach people, especially at high...

<p>PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - Willard Varnell Oliver, a member of the Navajo Code Talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, died Wednesday. He was 88.</p> <p>Lawrence Oliver said his father died at the Northern Arizona Veterans Administration Health Care System Hospital in Prescott, Ariz. He had been declining health for the past two years.</p>

PRESCOTT, Ariz. – Willard Varnell Oliver, a member of the Navajo Code Talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, died Wednesday. He was 88. ... Oliver was part of an elite group of Navajo Marines who confused the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in Navajo. The Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. Their work was declassified in 1968. Oliver, who grew up between Shiprock and Farmington, N.M., served in the South Pacific with the 2nd Marine Division...

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Oct. 14, 2009 – Marines here have brought new meaning to the expression “goat rope” by helping local farmers with free veterinary care for their goats, sheep and cows. A girl waits her turn to have her cow treated during a veterinary civil affairs project in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Oct. 9, 2009. Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment and 4th Civil Affairs Group provided free medical care for more than 700 cows, goats and sheep. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Scott Whittington  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marines from 4th Civil Affairs Group, attached...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A Marine reservist convicted in the death of an Iraqi soldier has had his conviction overturned by a military appeals court. The three-judge panel ruled last week that 22-year-old Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes' conviction should be overturned because the judge who presided over his original hearing at Camp Pendleton erred in his instructions to jurors. Holmes, of Indianapolis, was tried in the 2006 stabbing death of Pvt. Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin in Fallujah. A Marine jury convicted Holmes of negligent homicide and making a false official statement in December 2007, but acquitted him of unpremeditated homicide....

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is long gone; Rick Warren, just an Inauguration Day memory. The hordes of ministers around town who were hoping they'd somehow wind up with the first family in their pews have (mostly) given up. The president has been pastorless for quite a while now. Well, sort of. Seventy miles from Washington's prying eyes, Barack Obama has been attending church from time to time at Camp David, where services are led by a 39-year-old Navy chaplain with a famous last name, a compelling life story and a fervent belief in a God who works miracles. Carey Cash,...

KOTALAK, Afghanistan (AFP) – An elderly Afghan woman, her hair dyed red and a black shawl draped over her shoulders, shouts as she aims a gun at US Marines who are arresting her husband as a suspected Taliban insurgent. A Marine points his assault rifle at her and is ready to pull the trigger until the woman drops her rusty pistol. Members of the 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines, accompanied by Afghan soldiers, were sweeping villages for militants early this week as part of Operation Germinate. The aim of the operation was to reduce the threat of home-made bombs -- ...(IEDs)...

Burial of an American Lady Written by Norman Fulkerson    Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Colonel Ripley often referred to Moline as his "queen." On September 25, 2009, a small group of family and friends said their final farewell to Moline Blaylock Ripley. She died at her home in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at the age of 68. Moline was born in Bluefield, W.Va., on Pearl Harbor day, December 7, 1941, to Arnold Vincent and Edna Pais Blaylock. Her family eventually moved to Radford, Va. where she attended Radford High School and later went on to graduate...

Speaking to a respected Hispanic leader in KCK, Dennis Moore reportedly called decorated and disabled Marine Veteran and Congressional Opponent "White Trash" in a recent (recorded) telephone conversation. The KCK leader, who has formally supported the incumbent congressman, is supporting Daniel Gilyeat's candidacy for the Kansas 3rd District Congressional seat. Dennis Moore called the KCK man after hearing the Hispanic community leader's support had changed. Dennis Moore said he had $7 million for the campaign and could not believe the naturalized citizen was supporting "White Trash" over Moore.

The Marine Corps unit of a Lorain native killed in Afghanistan will be featured as part of a CBS News "60 Minutes" segment about the war there. USMC Lance Cpl. David R. Hall, 31, who was killed in action Aug. 31, was serving with a force that became part of the research for the "60 Minutes" program scheduled to run this Sunday. ...It appears the television crew has footage from Helmand Province, the same place where Hall spent his final days. The reporters were a kilometer away when a bomb took Hall's life and may have footage of the helicopter...

AP) A group of Navy ships is under quarantine after several dozen sailors and Marines on board tested positive for swine flu. Health officials say at least 69 people had been confirmed with the virus, and all of them have since recovered. Navy officials say they are now quarantining an undetermined number of crew members with flulike symptoms on four ships that are part of the USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which arrived in Hawaii on Friday. The ships are docked at or near Pearl Harbor. Thousands of sailors and Marines from the ships are currently on leave in Hawaii,...

BUTLERVILLE, Ind., Oct. 8, 2009 – Civilians from a U.S. State Department provincial reconstruction team readied for an assignment in Afghanistan with help from a Marine unit at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center here. A Marine with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit secures the perimeter while his comrades interact with “locals” during urban training at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Ind., Sept. 28, 2009. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alex C. Guerra  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The provincial reconstruction team course teaches civilian employees from the U.S. State Department, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for...

The Marines of 2/3 Fox Company are on the frontline of a new strategy to wipe out the Taliban, not with a rising body count but by gaining the confidence of ordinary people whose lives and futures are at stake. The commander of more than 100,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, US General Stanley McChrystal, has called for this shift in emphasis and warned his superiors that without more resources, the war could be lost within a year. His men on the ground agree.

Uhhh..

It began before dawn — a devastating, well-planned attack. About 300 insurgents swarmed out of a village and mosque and attacked a pair of isolated American outposts in a remote mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan with machineguns, rockets and grenades. They first stormed the Afghan police post at the foot of the hill in the province of Nuristan, a Taleban and al-Qaeda stronghold on the lawless Pakistan border. They then swept up to the Nato post. The battle lasted all day. American and Afghan soldiers finally repelled them, with the help of US helicopters and warplanes — but at heavy...

Lt. j.g. Richard Reese vowed to join the U.S. Navy as he sat in his sophomore fine arts class at Jesuit High School seconds after he watched hijacked airplanes crash into New York City's Twin Towers. The Metairie native kept his word. In the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks left 3,000 Americans dead, Reese completed Jesuit's Marine Corps ROTC program and earned his commission through Tulane University's Naval ROTC program. After graduating at the top of his class at the Navy's supply officer school, he was able to choose which crew he wanted to join. Reese could...

On the frontline of Washington's counter-insurgency in Afghanistan, intelligence officer Hajji Mir Hamzai stands before a map and tells a young Marine where the Taliban are next likely to strike... Hunt wants to know if any of the Taliban in Garmsir district can be turned into allies. "All Taliban are the same," said Hamzai, whose three brothers were killed in two separate suicide attacks by the Taliban. "There is another type which is also called Taliban. They are simple. They are not politicians, they are just locals ... But the ones that fight, the only way is to kill them,"...

US Marines are at the vanguard of the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Our correspondent Ian Pannell has travelled to one of the Marines' most remote outposts, south of Garmisir, where he witnessed the heat of the battle. (VIDEO)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The government has dropped a murder charge against a Marine who pleaded guilty Tuesday to dereliction of duty for killing an unarmed Iraqi detainee during a battle to recapture the city of Fallujah. If convicted of murder, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a dishonorable discharge. Instead, he now faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a bad conduct discharge – one grade less than dishonorable. Defense attorney Joseph Low told reporters the plea agreement says Nelson will not serve any prison time and will...

TV legend and Hawaii's own Jim Nabors was honored Friday night. The actor, best known as Gomer Pyle from the TV series of the same name, will receive the American Patriot award, given by the Navy League of Honolulu. Nabors has been in show business for nearly 50 years. He's had a successful career in acting as well as singing, and created friendships with celebrities like former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, his wife Nancy, and Carol Burnett. Bcause of his portrayal of Gomer Pyle, he's developed a close relationship with the military, especially the Marine Corps. "The general asked me...

Some people go cave exploring for fun, but when there is a possibility of stumbling on explosive materials, an armed enemy or a nasty surprise they've left to be triggered in the dark, it's about as far from fun as you can get. Marines from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment are searching wet, pitch-dark tunnels ranging from 40 to 100 feet underground that connect the karez system – a network of wells and tunnels between the snow-capped peaks of the Buji Bhast mountains and the arid desert plain here. The karez system was originally constructed hundreds, maybe thousands, of years...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The murder and dereliction of duty trial for the last of three defendants charged with killing an unarmed detainee during a 2004 battle for what was then the insurgent-held Iraqi city of Fallujah gets under way Tuesday in a base courtroom. Sgt. Jermaine Nelson is accused of killing an unnamed detainee he and members of his Camp Pendleton squad captured in the opening hours of the battle that began on Nov. 9, 2004. Two co-defendants, former Marine sergeants Ryan Weemer and Jose L. Nazario Jr., were acquitted in separate trials for the same alleged offense. (snip) Nazario,...

http://www.dvidshub.net/media/thumbs/img/0909/202681.jpg CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq – On the road between Ramadi and Fallujah lies the sediment of six years of violent conflict. The concussive forces of war, insurgency and terrorist brutality have turned much of the mason block construction into what must surely be the dictionary description following the word rubble. If this to block and mortar, what then to the lives of the Anbaris who lived here? It is Sunday morning, Sept. 6. A man runs hose water over his shiny green sedan. A shopkeeper props open the doors with jugs of juice. Barefoot children play in the dusty streets...