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VFW CALLS FOR BOYCOTT UNTIL MEXICO RELEASES U.S. MARINE VFW CALLS FOR NATIONWIDE BOYCOTT OF MEXICAN PRODUCTS AND TRAVEL UNTIL MARINE IS RELEASE June 25, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is calling for a nationwide boycott of Mexican products and travel until Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi is released from a Mexican jail. “This combat Marine has been languishing away since he was arrested March 31 for allegedly crossing the border accidentally with three personal firearms that were legally registered in the States but not in Mexico,” said VFW National Commander William A....

Summary of Action Lance Corporal William Kyle Carpenter is enthusiastically recommended for the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life while serving as a squad automatic rifleman, Company F, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) for actions against enemy forces on 21 November 2010 in Marjah District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Carpenter’s squad was tasked with establishing Patrol Base Dakota in a small village in the Karez-e Saydi area of Marjah on 19 November 2010. Traveling by foot, Lance Corporal Carpenter’s squad was accompanied by a team...

Andrew Tahmooressi, the Marine sergeant who has been imprisoned in Mexico since March 31 since accidentally crossing the border outside of San Diego with three weapons in his vehicle, has not been forgotten by his fellow leathernecks. Tahmooressi's most tireless champion in Washington has been Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R-Calif.), himself former Marine major and veteran of three combat tours. And Hunter has drawn in the top brass of the elite fighting force with a plea for help lighting a fire under the relevant powers in the Capitol.

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to Lindbergh Field and the former Naval Training Center San Diego. MCRD San Diego's main mission is the initial training of enlisted male recruits living west of the Mississippi River. Over 21,000 recruits are trained each year. The Depot also is the home to the Marine Corps' Recruiter School and Western Recruiting Region's Drill Instructors School....

VIDEO AT LINKAt a petite 5’3’’, Sage Santangelo may not look like a combat fighter at first glance. But the female second lieutenant has never let that hold her back from pursuing her dream of becoming an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. Growing up, Santangelo found she was always able to keep up with the guys and enjoyed playing hockey on all boys’ teams. But when she joined the Marines, Santangelo found the playing field changed; she was segregated into female-only training units and as a woman, was relegated to less strenuous physical training than her male counterparts. And...

The Associated Press reports: More than half of female Marines in boot camp can't do three pullups, the minimum standard that was supposed to take effect with the new year, prompting the Marine Corps to delay the requirement, part of the process of equalizing physical standards to integrate women into combat jobs. The delay rekindled sharp debate in the military on the question of whether women have the physical strength for some military jobs, as service branches move toward opening thousands of combat roles to them in 2016.

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are being accused of ignoring the plight of a U.S. Marine imprisoned in Mexico on gun charges -- with no indication whether Kerry even brought up the case during high-level meetings this week in Mexico City. "I don't think Kerry gives a damn about this guy," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FoxNews.com on Thursday. The case of Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi is notable for the lack of public attention it's gotten from administration officials. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out in 2011 on American hikers imprisoned in Iran, and her husband even...

An unusual government search of Marine Corps defense attorneys’ offices at California’s Camp Pendleton could cast a cloud over dozens of criminal cases. The search May 2, which lasted about two and a half hours, included investigators opening more than 100 case files compiled by defense attorneys, Marine Corps officers say. The search went beyond what was necessary and exceeded applicable legal standards, officers think.

Above: “Gang colors” that reportedly offended a Pizza Hut manager in Green Bay, Wisconsin. According to a Facebook post by a user calling himself Rick Libertas Semper, a popular pizza chain refused to serve him because he was wearing four patches signifying his service as a U.S. Marine. According to his profile, he lives in Green Bay, Wis. “I decided to go to Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet after work and was approached by the manager who came to tell me that for the safety of the patrons and staff they do not allow people in the restaurant wearing...

What started as a hard-charging Marine comment to Congress has turned into a public relations emergency for Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Micheal Barrett. Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel on Wednesday, Barrett was making the case that personnel costs needed to be reined in to maintain readiness — as all the services have in recent testimony — but went a step further by saying that lower pay would actually improve discipline within the Corps. “I truly believe it will raise discipline,” Barrett said. “You’ll have better spending habits. You won’t be so wasteful.” (snip) Barrett...

Sgt. Major Michael Barrett greets Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. (American Military News) Idiot Sgt. Major Michael Barrett, the highest enlisted member of the US Marine Corps, told Congress Marines don’t need higher pay. Barrett said he believes lower pay will “raise discipline.” Nice job looking out for your brothers, Sergeant Major. American Military News reported: The highest enlisted member of the United States Marine Corps said that lowering salary of Marines will “raise discipline” and make Marines less wasteful. The comments come as a debate in Washington talks about cutting active duty member pay in order to make sharp...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine Corps commandant has reacted swiftly to a female Marine officer’s complaint that women are unfairly precluded from trying a second time to pass the prestigious Marine Corps Infantry Officers Course, when men can have a second try. In response to a question from a female Army officer at an Atlantic Council forum April 1, Gen. James F. Amos said he has ordered a change in the rules and lavished praise not only on Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Sage Santangelo, who protested the restriction, but on all his female Marines. And, Amos said, he offered Santangelo...

A Marine squad was marching north of Fallujah when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist who was badly injured and unconscious. On the opposite side of the road was an American Marine in a similar but less serious state. The Marine was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had happened. The Marine reported, "I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road....

Earlier this year, the Marine Corps decided to delay the low 3 pull-up requirement for women that they had hoped to apply in 2014. The measure was set in preparation for compliance with the Pentagon’s intent to open combat units to women in 2016. Since less than half of female recruits could make the minimum requirement by the end of 2013, this implementation is being delayed.

The Marine Corps will open new combat jobs to women, allow women to volunteer for combat specialty training previously closed to them and create a co-ed experimental task force to evaluate how female Marines perform as part of a ground combat unit, Marine officials said. The task force will be made up of about 460 Marines, and about one quarter will be women, said Capt. Maureen Krebs, a Marine spokeswoman. The task force will look like a small battalion landing team with attachments such as artillery, tanks and amphibious assault vehicles — similar to the ground combat portion of a...

A U.S. Marine, who suffered serious injuries after it is believed he jumped on a grenade to protect a fellow Marine as they stood guard on a rooftop in Afghanistan's Helmand province, will receive the nation's highest combat valor honor, The Marine Times reported, citing unnamed sources. William Kyle Carpenter, 24, who medically retired as a corporal, is expected the receive the Medal of Honor later this year, the report said. Carpenter lost his right eye, most of his teeth and shattered his mouth and arm in the November 2010 grenade attack, the report said...

3 March 1945 - Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan Three Marines and Two FMF Corpsmen earn the Medal of Honor.

Supporters still press for Medal of Honor Ten years after he died in a 2004 firefight in Iraq, Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s death continues to ignite controversy, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last week refusing to reopen his nomination for the Medal of Honor and the Marine’s family accusing a newspaper of race-baiting in its reporting on the standoff. Peralta’s mother Rosa said in a letter this week that a reporter for The Washington Post seemed intent on trying to get her to say her son was denied the Medal of Honor because he was Hispanic. And some Marines who were...

Marine Corps officials who tried to ban the Marine Corps Times from base newsstands or move it to less visible areas in stores did so because of the paper’s reporting on the commandant, emails obtained by that paper suggest.

Wednesday marked the 69th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima – one of the worst battles of World War II. Across the nation many remembered this day from 69 years ago. In Newington, Connecticut, a memorial was recently built and is the only flag raising memorial built by survivors of the Battle of Iwo Jima. The flag flown at the memorial is historically correct with 48 stars. There is also sand from Iwo Jima beaches in the concrete base. The memorial also includes inscriptions of the names of 100 men from Connecticut who died during the battle. The 69th...