United States Marine Corps Celebrates 233 Years Of Fighting For Liberty

In honor of the United States Marine Corps' 233rd birthday:


Semper Fi!--and thanks to my father (post-Vietnam), grandfather (Korea), great uncle (WWII), and all veterans--a debt that can never be repaid.

Iraq War Anniversary--Colorado Recruitment Levels Remain High, "Duty To Country" Cited As Top Reason

Of course, there are the famous soldiers like Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, killed in Afghanistan and remembered in the excellent book "Lone Survivor" by fellow SEAL Marcus Luttrell, whose commemorative statue caused a stir last year when moonbats felt that the representation of the brave Coloradan using the last known photo of him "glorified violence" because he was holding a gun.

But the sacrifice has been felt by many others less well-known, but equally deserving of praise and thanks, including Marine Jon Lujan, injured the first week of battle:

Colorado has lost more than 50 of its own since the war in Iraq began five years ago and Fort Carson has lost more than 200, according to the Department of Defense. The DOD says nearly 500 Coloradans have been injured.

Lujan is among those that were injured, but his wounds started to heal over time.
. . .
Five years after he went into Iraq, Lujan looked back on the protests, the reunions, the battles and the funerals.

"It's a day with mixed emotions. I woke up today and realized what today was and there's anxiety, there's sadness, there's a whole gamut of emotions," he said.

He says the best thing anyone can do for any Iraq War veteran is just to say "thanks."

"I don't want 'em to react any different than they would for anyone else," he said.
Lujan says he has no regrets.

"For me, I was just doing my job," he said.

Despite the MSM's best efforts, Coloradans are signing up for what seems a very old-fashioned reason--a sense of honor and duty--but the MSM wants you to believe it is only for economic reasons that recruitment remains high:

A sense of "duty to country" is cited as the top reason for enlisting, but a struggling economy back home makes Army jobs look attractive. Cale Margheim, 40, lost his banking job and has a wife and child.

"They're supportive," Margheim said. "Of course they don't' want to see me deployed, but they are supportive of me."

The Army is meeting recruiting goals in part by offering big incentives -- up to $73,000 for college, up to $65,000 to pay off existing student loans, up to $40,000 in sign up bonuses and family medical benefits.

"I needed to get out of debt and I started paying for school," Army enlistee
Justin Owens said.

At the recruiting office in Denver, quotas are not only being met, but exceeded.

You don't exceed quotas merely with a flagging economy.

But then that doesn't fit their neat little narrative of our soldiers, now, does it? Coloradans are not alone, as reenlistments across the nation continue to soar.

The hardest job at home--casualty notification--follows Marine Maj. Steve Beck and the families of fallen soldiers.

Fort Carson has seen a lot of loss, including Staff Sgt. Michael D. Elledge:

Elledge, 41, of Brownsburg, Ind., and Cpl. Christopher C. Simpson, 23, of Hampton, Va., died Monday during an operation to locate and clear insurgent bombs from a road in northeast Baghdad.

Their unit, 1st Battalion, 68th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, is working to police neighborhoods near Sadr City.

Their deaths bring the number of Fort Carson soldiers killed in Iraq to 235, including eight members of the brigade who have died since the unit left in December for its third tour in Iraq.

Elledge was considered an old man in his company. The two-tour Iraq veteran was a teenaged Marine, left the military, but joined the Army a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

"When 9/11 hit, he felt a real need to re-enlist," his sister, Marsha Johnson, said by telephone from Detroit. "He was a real patriot."

While he loved his country, Elledge managed to put his wife and three children first in his life, Johnson said.

"The biggest thing for him was his family," she said
. . .
His dedication to duty had earned him the Army Commendation Medal.

And a reminder of the folks who hold "peace" vigils and claim to support the troops by wanting to "bring them home":


Link: sevenload.com

The Few--The Proud--The Marines: New Ad, Silent Drill Team

Check out the new ad for the Marine Corps (via Instapundit):



Saw this video last year, the Marine Corps' Silent Drill Team at Denver's Pepsi Center (with over 2 million views, h/t Ace):

Profiles In Courage: Two Colorado Marines

After 5 . . . 5! tours in Iraq, Marine Brad Adams celebrated his birthday, but also mourned the loss of his best friend, and would return to service if not for his injuries (video):

Even with two purple hearts and countless medals in his family room, Adams hesitates to talk about himself or his accomplishments.

"It's the hardest thing because my Marines are still out there and I'm back here," said Adams.

Adams uses medication to sleep at night, but his passion to serve remains strong.

If he wasn't injured, Adams would return to uniform today.

"I could do it right now," said Adams.

His injuries?

The bomb scarred one side of Adams' body and left him with only partial hearing and damage to about 40 percent of the tendons in his left arm. He leans on a cane and relies on a colostomy bag.

But he instead focuses on his best friend, his "brother":

"This is awesome. It's great to be home. This time definitely stands out for me," he said. "Someone was looking out for me because I shouldn't be here.

"It's the best feeling in the world to see all my folks and to give them hugs again. But there's also a large part of me that's missing," he added.

That part would be Stokes, a 24-year-old Marine from Auburn, Calif. The two have been best friends for the last four years. They fought together. They would go abalone fishing off the coast of California. They got tattooed together.

"He's my brother," said Adams, who has three sisters. "He's the closest thing I had to a brother."

---

"Hand Grenade Joe" Espinosa, 87, of Arvada, talks Sunday about his experience fighting the Japanese in World War II. The former Marine recently received a Purple Heart and other honors for his service more than six decades ago. (Post / John Prieto)

And from the "better late than never" department, an 87-year old Marine, "Hand Grenade Joe" Espinosa finally received his long overdue Purple Heart for his service in WWII (video):

Far below him in the dense jungle of Guadalcanal, Colorado's Joe Espinosa could see the palm leaves stirring.

He couldn't see the Japanese, they were so well-hidden.

But the shaking of the leaves told him they were climbing the ridge to encircle him and his company of Marines, who were 30 to 40 feet behind him.

And that moment, the miner's son from Trinidad took action that earned him his nickname that remains today.

"Hand Grenade Joe" sprung into action.

He had two boxes of grenades with him on the point of the ridge.

In rapid succession, he rained the grenades down the hill - at least 24 of them.

"They retreated. A hand grenade going down a slope like that can cause a lot of damage," Espinosa, 87, recalled Sunday.

At reunions, the guys he fought with always call out: "How you doing, Hand Grenade Joe? and "Hey, Joe, you remember those grenades?"