Free Republic

SIERRA VISTA — A hugely successful drive to help Cochise County’s foster children has received nationwide recognition. USA Weekend Magazine has chosen the Herald/Review and the Fort Huachuca Community Spouses’ Club as honorees in its Make A Difference Day Awards. It follows the amazing support given by our readers to an appeal for luggage for youngsters who often have to throw their belongings into a trash bag when they leave home. The campaign culminated in a one-day collection last October of more than 1,000 suitcases and travel bags — making a difference in the lives of more than 1,000 children....

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (April 18, 2006) -- The Bronze Star Medal was awarded to Master Gunnery Sgt. Norman P. Hoosier, Marine Aircraft Group-26 logistics chief, April 4, for meritorious achievement while he was deployed this past year in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the 13 months Hoosier was deployed to Al Asad Air Base, he dedicated more than 2,000 hours personally installing, repairing and rebuilding more than 200 pieces of equipment. “From power generation to power delivery, to heating to cooling of spaces; anytime anything was needed, ‘Master Guns’ Hoosier and his team was on...

MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. (Feb. 9, 2006) -- A Marine walks through a village in Vietnam while carrying out a mission of extreme importance. The day is warm and muggy and the villagers cower away whenever the Marine walks pass them. Suddenly, shots ring out in the distance and rounds impact around his location. His platoon sergeant goes down with the onslaught of bullets. The Marine reaches for his platoon sergeant's body to drag him away from the danger, but the wounded sergeant orders the other Marine to run and get his rifle. At that moment a warm...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Jan. 25, 2006) -- In combat, Navy corpsmen are relied on to be ready to treat any type of injury or mass causality situation, sometimes risking their own lives in the process. Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason C. Deguzman, from Santa Rosa, Calif., did this more than once, earning him the Bronze Star Medal for his achievement during combat operations. On May 13, 2005, the corpsman with Company C, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division responded to mass casualties that happened when a crowded civilian bus collided into the rear of a...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Jan. 17, 2006) -- When Marines deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, they all try to bring a piece of home with them, something that reminds them not only of what they left behind, but also what they’re fighting for. Unfortunately for some Marines, they end up bringing a piece of Iraq home, in the form of pieces of metal from a roadside bomb or battle scars from enemy attacks. Sergeant Matthew P. Dalrymple, 26, of Chillicothe, Ohio was awarded the Purple Heart medal with a gold star in lieu of second award...

AL ASAD, Iraq(Jan. 12, 2006) -- Imagine you are walking through a thick Vietnamese jungle in the spring of 1965; the temperature is a sweltering 130 degrees and rising with 100 percent humidity. You are surrounded by a seemingly invisible enemy in their country and they want you dead. The Vietnam War is in its early stages with soldiers and Marines hard at work locating, closing with and destroying a fierce enemy. You are a war correspondent for United Press International with little training in the art of war, but with the 9th Marine Regiment on your first of four...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 6, 2005 – Saddam Hussein's nephew -- a former regime insider and once-active terrorist supporter -- was found guilty in a Baghdad court Dec. 5 of illegally crossing the Syrian border without authorization from Iraqi customs. Aymen Sabawi received a 15-year sentence in addition to the six-year sentence he received during a September trial in which he was found guilty of possessing illegal weapons and manufacturing explosive devices. During his September trial, Sabawi submitted self-incriminating information in his testimony when he spoke of the illegal border crossing, officials said. The combined sentences mean Sabawi will not be released...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Dec. 2, 2005) -- “ He led from the front,” said 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment Bn. commander Lt. Col. Craig S. Kaczynski during Capt. Patrick M. Rapicault’s Silver Star ceremony Dec. 2. Rapicault assumed command of Weapons Company, 2nd Bn. 5th Marines during his deployment to Iraq while they were in contact with the enemy on 24 September 2004. As company commander, Rapicault led his Marines through 50 firefights and 27 improvised explosive device ambushes between the time he took command of the unit and until he was killed Nov. 15, 2004. For...

An employee of the Ninewa Middle School for Girls assits members of the 401st Civil Affairs Unit deliver school supplies in the Al-Faisaliya neighborhood Mosul, Iraq, Nov. 29, 2005. The supplies were provided by Operation Iraqi Children. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Clydell Kinchen Iraqi Girls’ School Receives Needed Supplies Iraqi security forces, along with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion, provided security for the delivery of the supplies. By Multinational Force-Iraq MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 2, 2005 — The Ninewa Middle School for girls in the Al-Faisaliya neighborhood in Mosul accepted school necessities from Operation Iraqi Children Nov. 29. "The...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Dec. 01, 2005) -- Marines often go unrecognized for the jobs they do. The faithful service, self-sacrifice, and adaptability in tough situations often go unseen. Marines don’t fight for recognition. They fight for freedom and strive to keep the band of brothers they left with safe, so they can all return home together. Corporal Matthew D. Palacios of Lorain, Ohio, is a prime example that these good deeds do not go unnoticed. The combat engineer with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion was awarded the Bronze Star medal with a combat distinguishing device here Nov. 22...

11/29/2005 - BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFPN) -- While most people were waiting to make an important call on Thanksgiving, an Airman here was awaiting a call from an important person. Airman 1st Class Sarah Sullivan, an airfield management operations supervisor, received that call at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 24, when the White House switchboard put the commander in chief through to her. She had learned about a week earlier President George W. Bush would call on Thanksgiving to thank her for her service in Iraq. “I was in total and complete shock,” Airman Sullivan said. “I never really thought I would...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Nov. 22, 2005) -- A Memphis, Tenn. native was awarded the Purple Heart Medal here Nov. 16 for wounds received during combat operations in Iraq. Twenty-five-year old Lance Cpl. Josh Barrett, an infantryman with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment’s Surveillance, Target and Acquisition (STA) Platoon, and several of his teammates had been conducting counterinsurgency operations outside Fallujah in July at the time of the incident. “It happened around 11:30 (PM), while we were on a mission to insert sniper teams to be used for counter-IED (improvised explosive device) operations,” the 2003 Ole Miss’ University...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Nov. 18. 2005) -- A North Brunswick, N.J. native and commanding officer of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division received the Bronze Star Medal at a ceremony here. Captain Christopher S. Ieva, a 1996 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy received the award for heroic achievement in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. During Operation Matador, Marines destroyed enemy strongholds north of the Euphrates River, in the city of Ubaydi, Iraq. From May 8 to May 14, Ieva achieved battle momentum that...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Nov. 14, 2005) -- A Freehold, N.J., native was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received during combat operations in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. Lance Cpl. John Myslinski, 27, a Marine with Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division received the medal for his actions in Ramadi, Iraq back in June. The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington in Newburgh, New York, on Aug. 7, 1782, during the Revolutionary War later awarded to servicemember who was wounded by direct result of enemy action. While Myslinski, a 1996 Freehold Borough High School...

11/3/2005 - HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) -- Sixty years after serving in the Army Air Corps, a 7th Fighter Squadron pilot received a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal. First Lieutenant James Costley, a P-38 pilot in World Word II, received the last of his military decorations in front of three generations of his family, friends and fellow military veterans at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Two Harbors, Minn., on Oct. 25. Lt . Gen. Donald Hoffman, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisitions deputy director, and Brig. Gen. Kurt Cichowski,...

CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq — If it weren’t for cable dogs from the 69th Signal Company, soldiers of a Fort Bragg unit will be staying in this Middle East nation instead of returning to North Carolina nearly a month early, the commander of the 50th Signal Battalion said Friday. Praising the small group of Signal Corps soldiers from Fort Huachuca, Lt. Col. Cedric Rice said once the 69th GIs arrived about five months ago, the communications infrastructure at this former Iraqi Air Force base went in rapidly. “The 69th came and jumped in there,” Rice said. Running cable is a critical...

MARINE BARRACKS WASHINGTON, Washington D.C. (Oct. 28, 2005) -- The annals of Marine Corps history are filled with stories of men and women who have sacrificed their all in service to their country. Puller, Basilone, Lejeune, Butler, Daley—names that are synonymous with valor in combat and Marine Corps lore. "There is a fellowship of valor that links all U.S. Marines, past, present, and future," said Joseph Alexander, retired Marine Colonel in his book The Battle History of the U.S. Marines: A Fellowship of Valor. Now, another story of valor can be added to the Marine history books and for one...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2005) -- Good things really do happen to good people. At least that’s what Cpl. Matthew Castaneda found out months after saving a 71-year-old woman from her burning car. Two weeks after being recognized by the city of Oceanside for his heroic efforts Sept. 21, Castaneda, an electronic technician with 1st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, received a good deed of his own. His 2000 Dodge Stratus, which needed more than $5,000 worth of repairs, was going to be fixed for free. “To us as a family it’s a really...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2005 – Defense officials have lauded Sears, Roebuck and Co. for the many benefits they provide employees who have been called to the colors. The war on terror demands much of reserve-component military personnel. The sacrifices they and their families make are legion. But increasingly, the war is demanding much of reserve-component servicemembers' civilian employers. The National Committee for Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve presented companies that go the extra mile for reservists with the Freedom Award during a ceremony here Oct. 15. The Freedom Awards are the highest given by the organization. A Guard...

FORT POLK, La. (Army News Service, Sept. 16, 2005) -- Not since the end of the Civil War have U.S. Soldiers returned home from war to such devastation and massive rebuilding. After a one-year combat tour in Iraq, Soldiers from the 256th Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana Army National Guard, started arriving at the England Industrial Airpark in Alexandria Sept. 9. Among the first wave of returning Soldiers was Staff Sgt. Scott Andras, assigned to the 141st Field Artillery. Andras and his wife of 18 months Heather, own a home in New Orleans. “We live two blocks off of St. Charles...