Marine battalion heads to Iraq for fourth time

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/03/MNG1NKUN0M1.DTL

Sometimes, there are just no words.

In a parking lot baked by the desert sun, a young Marine stands in line waiting to get on a bus. A young woman walks with him. They hold hands. They stare intently into each other's eyes, trying to communicate something that cannot be said. Her hand grips his arm, her knuckles white. Finally, they reach the door. He gives her one last kiss.

It's a long kiss, but the men behind him say nothing. They are not in a hurry. The bus, painted white with no markings, will take the young lover and his buddies to an Air Force base. They will board a passenger jet and make their way to Kuwait. And then, Iraq.

It's a scene played out regularly at the world's largest Marine base, on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert. The war in Iraq has been going on for less than four years, but this is the fourth time these Marines -- members of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment -- will be deployed there.

"This is the second time we've gone through this," said Jaime Pater, 28, the wife of a Marine warrant officer. "It doesn't get any easier."

[Captain Hilts]

1. This is a crime. nt

[spartan61]

2. My nephew, who is a Marine chopper pilot

is heading back to Iraq in October for the fourth time, too. When is this horse crap going to end????

[SKKY]

3. I may very well be headed there later this year as well...

...it probably won't end until sometime early in 2009

[The Wizard]

29. like

January 21, 2009.

[SKKY]

36. That's just about the date I was thinking...

[lyonn]

5. This might end if there was a draft OR when we win in Congress

this November. Start sending repubs to Iraq would make a world of difference. My gawd, 4 tours in 4 years?! bush loves to talk about "the evil" ones, what a sick joke, he is truly evil.

[SKKY]

37. Start sending repubs to Iraq?

What percentage of the Military do you think is Republican? I think we need to be out of Iraq as much
as the next guy, but you'll never hear me complain about republican representation in Iraq.

[TomInTib]

4. This sort of thing is emotionally disastrous.

I, unfortunately, know more than I want to know about lengthy deployment.

These are just regular guys, not Special Forces, and they are in no way prepared for this.

This action goes against every study and evaluation the Armed Forces have ever done.

The troop morale must be thru the floor.

[tabasco]

25. The troop morale is through the floor.

I hear from a number of friends who are still active duty.

It is getting close to some type of military ultimatum to the corporate cabal.

There are still tens of thousands of troops on stop-loss.

Rummy & Bush have fucked the military hard, especially the Army & Marines.

Then they cut funds from VA.

Meanwhile, deluded supporters think Bush is the best thing ever for the military.

[Erika]

6. My Marine nephew who did two tours in Iraq is happy

He's been told his next tour will be on a ship. He tells me that all ships have a Marine force on them. I didn't know that.

He says it's needed in the event of beachhead landings.

[sofa king]

17. Maybe a MEU.

Sounds like your nephew might be part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a fairly large force which the U.S. tries to keep at sea for rapid deployment just about anywhere. With these wingnuts at the helm, so to speak, it's not necessarily a cushy job--they could be landing anywhere from the Iranian coast to Venezuela to the Philippines, pretty much whenever Rumsfeld thinks he can get away with it.

Alternatively, he might be part of a ship's security force. If the squids get out of line, the jarheads are there to knock 'em back into it. That's one of the reasons why there have been so very few (if any) outright mutinies in the U.S. Navy. People who know know better than to mess with the Marines!

[NastyDiaper]

18. .

.

[rodeodance]

7. yes, so sad. and it goes on and on.

.......The battalion, known by its numeric designator "Three-Four," is among the first to go back for a fourth tour. During its first three tours, it lost 11 men.

Three-Four was with the 1st Marine Division when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The unit saw a lot of action, first at Basra, then Diwaniya, Kut and later in Baghdad. The battalion led the fight for a key bridge over the Dyala Canal, a waterway along the southeast area of Baghdad, which was key to allowing the rest of the division to cross into the city. On the way, it lost four men -- one to an accident and three to hostile fire.

This was the Marine battalion that helped pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein, effectively marking the end of the fight for Baghdad.

After the fall of Baghdad, two more Marines from Three-Four lost their lives. One was killed by an Iraqi and another by a Marine sniper in a "friendly fire" accident.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. "marking the end of the fight for Baghdad" ?? Did I miss something?

.
.
.

I thought I read somewhere that they were still fighting for control of Baghdad.

I'll have to start reading Fox News so I can find out the TRUTH!!

[Dan]

8. Unfortunately,

This is a war that 70% of the American people supported - they just forgot that someone had to go die. The old saying 'to get ass, you have to fletch ass' is so true. This insanity that the neocons have got the nation into has no end is sight. We will kill people but not win, because there is no way to define 'victory' for this war of choice.

It is too damn bad that Bush doesn't read, because he will never understand the shame that I feel about the actions performed in our name by this administration and their enablers in Congress.

[wellst0nev0ter]

10. "Sometimes, There Are Just No Words."

they could have just ended the article there :grr:

[Rainscents]

11. When will this shit going to end?

I feel so helpless.

[cornermouse]

12. Yet another Bush policy of using people as though they are

machines. "Conservative compassion" at its zenith. If they don't die in Iraq, a lot of them are going to come back and find themselves not able to make a permanent transition back to their families and real life.

[Ferret Annica]

13. Bush has no shame, empathy or common sense

"Kelly Coelho and her husband, Lance Cpl. Joseph Coelho, embrace as they say goodbye on the Marine base at Twentynine Palms. Chronicle photo by Darryl Bush

[opihimoimoi]

14. When it reaches 8 or 9 times...they will tire of it and demand Bushies

dick be put in a vise and squeezed real tight.

[Vinca]

15. This is not right and it won't end until the chickenhawks are

forced to go. I'm starting to reconsider my position on the draft. It's not fair to have a bunch of old, white men with virtually no military experience sending the nonwealthy young to die. When they send troops for a fourth tour, that's a sign the chickenhawks are playing at war and the soldiers are game pieces. It's time for Jenna and Barbara to get in line.

[SpiralHawk]

16. Meanwhile, commander AWOL continues to DESERT the truth

One a deserter, always a deserter

I wouldn't follow commander AWOL to a doughnut shop, much less an oil-profit war to enrich his corrput republicon cronies.

[johncoby2]

19. It's hard to feel sorry for these guys.

When they stand in back of him for a photo op supporting this disaster of a war.
Maybe when they go back for their 6th or 7th time, they might start voting in the right way.

But, having said that, I hope they come home safe and quickly.

God Bless our Troops.
god damn our president.

[wordpix2]

20. maybe the BushCons pick out only those who support him for photo ops

the rest they keep a mile away.

[KansDem]

41. Bush's "supporters" have been photoshopped to show larger numbers

The fake troops in Bush's new ad
by mithras the prophet
Thu Oct 28, 2004 at 09:55:26 AM PDT
(From the diaries -- kos)

Appropriately titled "Whatever It Takes", the new BC04 ad uses Bush's convention acceptance speech, stirring music, and images of dedicated troops and families in the heartland. As astutely noted by mikellanes in this thread:

It also uses Photoshopped images to turn a small crowd into a large one cover over Bush at a podium...



From: DailyKos

[Earth_First]

21. Often times they have no choice.

Ask me how many Change of Command ceremonies I was "requested" to attend in brigade formation at 0800 for some no-name commander. Trust me, it wasn't a decision between attendance OR off-post fishing excursions.

[danhan]

22. The Marines will be fine.

Marines are Marines and these Marines will not only be fine, they will prevail. We always do. No sappy, tear jerking article in a newspaper will ever change that.

Saying goodbye to loved ones is the same as it has been throughout history. It sucks.

Our focus should be on the things that are preventing us from finishing this.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[0007]

28. That's a big 10-4

[The Wizard]

31. Please define

finishing this. What is "this?" When is "this" finished? Can't answer can ya?
Put down your books and pick up a gun
Go and have a whole lot of fun.
One Two Three why are you lurking here?
Armageddon must be really near.
Five six seven
Open up the pearly gates
Don't ask me I don't give a damn
Get you punk ass back to freeper land.

[danhan]

43. Intelligent

This is an intelligent reply.

Did you send Country Joe a royalty check for sampling his song?

[saigon68]

45. Country Joe

read it and weep sporty:


Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in IRAQ-NAM
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.


Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the IRAQ-NAM

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to IRAQ-NAM.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

[grizmaster]

39. Those Marines might not be fine

and those shedding tears at the possibility are not being sappy.


As to your second point, what exactly is it that we're "finishing" and what is "preventing" us from finishing it?

[saigon68]

44. Finishing what?

killing a few million Islamics

The few the proud the Deluded?

LOL

NEXT STOP IS IRAQ-NAM

You can be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box.

[tecullinan]

23. Their mental health is slipping away!!

As the child of a WW II veteran who suffered post traumatic stress syndrome, it is clear that the majority of these four term soldiers who manage to miss being physically injured will not escape the psychological trauma that war inflicts. It took my father 10 years to get his head straight. Yet some of his friends never recovered, because they needed professional help and did not get it. I am bracing myself! I fully expect history to repeat itself.

[young_at_heart]

24. I wish all those who voted for this insane war could read this

I don't know how they sleep at night when they read such things!

[tabasco]

27. Republicans say "they volunteered - fuck 'em!"

That's how they "support the troops."

Put the troops in an endless bloody quagmire with NO END IN SIGHT and no clear objective. NICE SUPPORT ASSHOLES!

Like the gutless freepers infesting this thread.

[yorkiemommie1]

30. They get fed F*XNews

even as they eat...

"In the chow hall, the TVs are always tuned to Fox news and CNN. So they know what's going on." Is it always thus, or do they get to watch other programs?



As for those who voted for the war being able to sleep at night, they sleep just fine. They have objectified the troops over there; they're just toy soldiers to them. I could and will email this to dh and he will not blink an eye. He has grandsons and even if they were over there, he would still think it's better 'to fight them over there....' blah blah blah.

That is how deep the kool aid seeps into the reptile brains.

edited to add: In Edward Steichen's The Family of Man, there is a picture of a WWII father saying goodbye to his crying toddler son. Never ends.

[19jet54]

32. Godspeed...

My son just EASed from the 3/4 after OIF2 & OIF3. Regardless of my politics & what I think of "W", I wish them all "Godspeed" & a safe return to their families & friends. Be sure to vote democrat in November & make "W" a lame duck!!!

"If you have no son in the fight you say 'let's go and get it over with'; but when you have a son, you do not want war, you just want your son home safe"; Israeli Father with son in Lebanon conflict.

[nnyvet]

33. I think I missed something in this article.

I read this story as men who understand that they signed up to do a job, and that it is their place to do it, none of them are shirking from their duty and they are rather proud to serve nexdt to men that they call brothers.

Can someone tell me where I went wrong in reading that story?


And just for the record, I am a combat veteran in the US Army, and I am currenty serving in the Army National Guard. I was activated and mobilized in Feb of 2002 for 2 and 1/2 years as an MP.

[BrotherBuzz]

34. How much time were you allowed for decompression between...

your four deployments in four years despite all DoD studies that demonstrate that it is counterproductive to compress such deployments in such a short period of time?

And just for the record, I was just a dumb draftee that was informed by Rumsfeld that I added "no value, no advantage, really, to the United States Armed Services over any sustained period of time.", so I have no understanding of what these Marines are going through, and no understanding of their meager family life that is stressed, and runs a good chance of failing in the near future. Their perception/projection of family that includes their "Brother in Arms" is all they got, and as precarious as it may be, it's all they got.

The bottom line is it is a big ass secret that these jug heads are too proud to admit anything but Nationalism and Patriotism, and desire to get the job done because that is exactly what they were trained and indoctrinated to do. I think Rumsfeld views them as disposable, but I was just a dumb draftee so I don't know shit. :shrug:

[grizmaster]

40. What didn't you understand?

Was it the tears of those weeping over soldiers that may never return?

[Straight Shooter]

35. Several newbies here on DU in this thread.

I want to say Welcome to all of them. We're all in this together.

:hi:

[No Passaran]

38. it will be my third time in a few months

when will it end?

[Seabiscuit]

42. So THIS is what the Repukazoid dweebs mean by "support our troops"!!

Revolting!

[saigon68]

46. Iraq-Nam is like its namesake

IRAQ-NAM

[Barrett808]

47. I remember Rumsfeld ridiculing the idea of 3rd- and 4th tours

Back in, oh, about 2004.

So here we are, Don.