Dawid Pietrek, a Polish immigrant, couldn't vote, run for public office or obtain a U.S. passport. But he signed up to serve a country that wasn't yet his, and last month he gave his life for that country.
Continue reading "Immigrant Killed in Afghanistan Granted Posthumous Citizenship" »
Family, Friends Remember Sgt. Matthew Mendoza
SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio Marine was laid to rest Saturday, a little more than a week after he died on patrol in Afghanistan.
Before Marine Sgt. Matthew Mendoza left for each of his three deployments to the war zone, he told his father what he wanted done if he came back in a casket.
Victims of attack targeting anti-al-Qaida tribal sheiks included 3 Marines
BAGHDAD - A member of an extremist cell believed to be behind a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people including three U.S. Marines has been arrested, the U.S. military said Friday.
U.S. Marine Dawid Pietrek, who gave his life for a country that was not yet his own, will be buried with military honors alongside other American heroes.
Continue reading "Fallen DuPage Marine to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery" »
A sergeant was killed in Afghanistan on Friday, bringing the number of confirmed casualties in 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, to at least seven in less than one week.
Continue reading "At least 7 deaths in one week for battalion" »
MARSEILLES, Ill. (CBS) ― Hundreds of motorcyclists hit the highway for the annual "Illinois Freedom Run." The 65-mile trek is a small way for the cyclists to honor U.S. soldiers who have died in the Mid-East conflicts. CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports.
Continue reading "Freedom Run Honors Soldiers of Mid-East Conflicts" »
CAMP BARBER, Afghanistan — The Marines now have a place to call their own.
Continue reading "Task Force 2⁄7 dedicates camp after MoH recipient" »
'Outgoing,' 'brave' RHS grad among 4 killed by roadside bomb
A 22-year-old Richmond Marine described by friends as "outgoing" and "brave" was killed over the weekend while serving in Afghanistan.
Dawid Pietrek was a Polish immigrant who went to war for the U.S. to help fulfill his dream of becoming a citizen and police officer.
Continue reading "Roadside bomb claimed Marine from Bensenville" »
Corps was big dream for Polish immigrant
Dawid Pietrek was a Polish immigrant who had always wanted to join the Marines.
Continue reading "Marine from Bensenville killed in Afghanistan, Defense Department says" »
Corps was big dream for Polish immigrant
Dawid Pietrek was a Polish immigrant who had always wanted to join the Marines.
Continue reading "Marine from Bensenville killed in Afghanistan, Defense Department says" »
TACOMA -- Family says one of the four Marines killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was from Tacoma.
FENTON — Michael Patton, 19, who grew up in the Fenton area and graduated from Fox High School in Arnold in 2007, was among four Marines killed by a roadside bomb on Saturday in Afghanistan, his sister said Sunday.
Continue reading "Marine from Fenton area is killed in Afghanistan" »
TACOMA, Wash. - A Tacoma family mourns a marine who was killed in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Marine from Tacoma killed in Afghanistan" »
A Tacoma Marine was among four Americans killed Saturday in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, his family said Sunday. Sgt. Michael T. Washington, 20, was returning from a mission when an IED exploded near their Humvee, said his father, who is also named Michael. The Department of Defense had not yet issued a news statement about the incident.
Continue reading "Tacoma Marine among four killed in Afghan blast" »
Roadside bomb kills 4 US troops training police in Afghanistan
A roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military vehicle on Saturday, killing four Marines in western Afghanistan in the deadliest attack against U.S. troops in the country this year, officials said.
CAMP BARBER, Afghanistan - The Marine Corps' top commanders recently visited with Marines and Sailors of Task Force 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, serving here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom
COUPLEVILLE, Wash. — After they received the hard news of their daughter’s death in Iraq in December 2006, Mike and Re McClung cloaked themselves in solitude, declining requests for interviews.
Continue reading "Legacy of female major killed in Iraq grows" »
Gen. John A. Logan was a Union officer, a fierce Republican partisan, an early advocate of the kind of volunteer army the United States now fights wars with. He is also one of the people credited with coming up with the holiday that we celebrate today. A statue in Logan Circle in Washington shows the general on horseback flanked by two female figures said to represent America at war and America at peace.
The young Marine came back from the war, with his toughest fight ahead of him. Merlin German waged that battle in the quiet of a Texas hospital, far from the dusty road in Iraq where a bomb exploded, leaving him with burns over 97 percent of his body.
Continue reading "'Miracle' Marine Refused to Surrender Will to Live" »
TOPSHAM — Everett Pope doesn't care how he's referred to during Monday's Brunswick-Topsham Memorial Day pa-rade, as long as he can ride through it in a rusty Hum-vee instead of a shiny convertible.
Continue reading "Always faithful to his 'boys': Parade marshal embodies Marine Corps ideals" »
Eupora High graduate, 22, shot to death Sunday during combat in Afghanistan
On Sunday, Marine Cpl. Justin Cooper of Eupora was killed in combat in Afghanistan.
GRAND RAPIDS -- A Marine home on leave and scheduled to return to Iraq on June 2 died in a motorcycle crash while visiting relatives.
Continue reading "Motorcycle crash kills Marine on leave from Iraq" »
Artist's portraits touch spirit of lost Marines of Ohio's Lima Company
COLUMBUS - There's a little-known stretch of heaven in Westerville.
The Marines and sailors of 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion gathered with friends and family at the Combat Center’s Sunset Cinema Thursday to honor their fallen comrade Lance Cpl. Drew W. Weaver, who was killed in action Feb. 21 in Iraq.
HABBANIYAH, Iraq (May 8, 2008) – Funny, outgoing, crazy, loving, full of life – those are just a few of the many words that describe the late Cpl. Richard “Ricky” J. Nelson, a 23-year-old rifleman from Kenosha, Wis., who was killed by an improvised explosive device in the al Anbar Province of Iraq, Apr. 14.
Continue reading "Wisconsin family remembers their fallen Marine" »
May 2, 2008 -- A brave Manhattan-born Marine - whom doctors nicknamed the "Miracle Man" for surviving burns to 97 percent of his body after a roadside blast in Iraq three years ago - has died, the Pentagon announced yesterday.
Sgt. Merlin German had been struggling with burn wounds covering more than 97 percent of his body for nearly two years when he made a decision: painful or not, he was going to don his dress blues and whisk his mother away for a dance during a hospital ball.
Continue reading "Marine burned on 97 percent of body dies" »
RAMADI, IRAQ (April 29, 2008) – It was a typical quiet morning on April 22, with the temperature intensifying as a bright orange sun emerged high from the horizon.
Continue reading "Heroic last stand, Marines thwart enemy attack" »
CINCINNATI — Yes, there were many tears Sunday afternoon as Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin was finally laid to rest. But they were not all tears of sorrow.
Continue reading "Thousands attend service for former MIA Maupin" »
Two young Marines killed in the explosion of a suicide vehicle are being praised for saving the lives of dozens of Marines and Iraqi police by preventing the vehicle from penetrating a police compound in Ramadi.
On Monday, JoAnn Lyles received a letter from her only child, who wrote her about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
A lot has changed for the parents of the late Cpl. Jason Dunham since he died in 2004, after saving two other Marines by throwing himself on an insurgent’s grenade in Karabilah, Iraq.
Continue reading "Construction begins on USS Jason Dunham" »
HAMPTON — The military says the death of a Marine from Hampton is under investigation.
Continue reading "Military says it's investigating death of Hampton Marine" »
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (AP) -- Officials say a 19-year-old Marine has died after he was injured in a traffic accident at Camp Pendleton.
Continue reading "Camp Pendleton Marine killed in traffic accident" »
BATAVIA, Ohio - Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin's parents vowed to never let the U.S. Army forget about finding their son.
One Mother Of A Fallen Soldier Showed His Platoon Her True Support
(CBS) Maureen O'Haire of Rockland, Mass., supports the troops, and not in the patronizing, bumper-sticker sort of way. She really supports the troops.
Leon Deraps died May 6, 2006, while serving in Iraq
JAMESTOWN, Mo. - Sandy Deraps has a sparkle in her eye and a loving smile on her face when she hears her son's name.
Artist memorializes Lima Company's dead
It came in a vision to Westerville artist Anita Miller: a series of paintings in the Statehouse honoring the fallen servicemen of Lima Company.
CAMP KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq (March 1, 2008) -- KOREAN VILLAGE, AL ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ -- The overcast sky at Camp Korean Village, Iraq, March 1 reflected the solemn mood as Marines from 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5 gathered to remember their fallen Marine.
Continue reading "3rd LAR gathers to remember their fallen Marine" »
For decades, qualified Washington veterans could buy special license plates that honor wartime honors and service.
Continue reading "Parents of war dead push for special license plates" »
BROOKPARK, Ohio -- On Jan. 12, a warrior named Dontay Burton was laid to rest at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. He was 8 years old.
REDDING, Calif. (Feb 9, 2008) -- Raymond Jacobs, believed to be the last surviving member of the group of Marines photographed during the original U.S. flag-raising on Iwo Jima during World War II, has died at age 82.
Continue reading "Last original Iwo Jima flag-raiser dies at 82" »
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan (Feb. 8, 2008) -- After Cpl. Tom Saba, a crew chief with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, died in a CH-46 Sea Knight crash Feb. 7, 2007 in Iraq, his parents found a photo on his computer.
Continue reading "Web site allows Okinawa Marines to share stories with fallen Marine’s parents" »
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan (Feb. 8, 2008) -- After Cpl. Tom Saba, a crew chief with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, died in a CH-46 Sea Knight crash Feb. 7, 2007 in Iraq, his parents found a photo on his computer.
Continue reading "Web site allows Okinawa Marines to share stories with fallen Marine’s parents" »
For the better part of three years, the refrain from grunts in the Marine Corps has been, "What about Peralta?"
KABUL, Afghanistan (Dec. 26, 2007) -- The assistant commandant of the Marine Corps made a quick stop at Camp Eggers today and passed a message from a modern day Marine Corps hero’s family to Kabul-area Marines.
ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 16, 2007 – They came from around the country, some with tears in their eyes, putting holiday demands on hold to honor veterans most never knew.
Continue reading "America Supports You: Volunteers Decorate Veterans’ Graves" »
AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (Dec. 15, 2007) -- Instead of seeing the brightly colored decorations and twinkling lights found on America’s streets during the holiday season, troops often have to settle for a monochromatic view of the desert.
Continue reading "American people help spruce up Marines’ Christmas" »
SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP) -- Marine Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee and his German shepherd, Lex, scoured Iraq for roadside bombs together, slept next to each other and even posed in Santa hats for a holiday photo.
Continue reading "Marines let dog go to slain handlers' family" »
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan (Nov. 26, 2007) -- The street in front of the Vehicle Registration Office on Camp Foster was dedicated as Captain Brock Road during a ceremony Nov. 16.
Continue reading "Camp Foster road renamed in honor of fallen Marine" »
BALTIMORE —
A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
Continue reading "Jury Awards Father $11M in Funeral Case" »
BALTIMORE — The father of a fallen Marine was awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday in damages by a jury that found leaders of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family's privacy and inflicted emotional distress when they picketed the Marine's funeral.
Continue reading "Jury Awards Father Nearly $11 Million in Funeral Protesters Case" »
BALTIMORE — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq took the stand Wednesday in his invasion of privacy suit against a fundamentalist church that pickets soldiers’ funerals, saying protesters carrying signs at his son’s burial made him sick to his stomach.
Continue reading "Father of Marine: Funeral protest made me sick" »