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Saturday, June 18, 2005

Fallen Hero - Lance Cpl. Dion M. Whitley

If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scenes
They will find the gates are guarded by United States Marines"
--SGT Bill M. Brower (USMC Oct. 1969 - Oct. 1972)

Sadly, a member of the Soldiers' Angels family has been lost. Our prayers are with his family, friends, comrades, and Angels, and with the loved ones of his fellow fallen Marines.


DoD Identifies Marine Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Jonathan R. Flores, 18, of San Antonio, Texas
Cpl. Jesse Jaime, 22, of Henderson, Nev.
Cpl. Tyler S. Trovillion, 23, of Richardson, Texas
Lance Cpl. Dion M. Whitley, 21, of Los Angeles, Calif.

All four Marines died June 15 when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. All four Marines were assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, their unit was operating with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, which was attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Soldiers of the Iraqi Intervention Forces, 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division go to a school to greet kids in the city of Fallujah, Iraq, on June 15, 2005. Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) conducts counter-insurgency operations with ISF to isolate and neutralize Anti-Iraqi Forces, to support the continued development of ISF, and to support Iraqi reconstruction and democratic elections in order to create a secure environment that enables Iraqi self-reliance and self-governance. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Michael J. O'Brien) CENTCOM photo.

Wow


9/11 PAINTING — U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kenneth Evans paints a mural in remembrance of September 11th, in the foc’sle aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, June 5, 2005. U.S. Navy photo by Airman Jordon R. Beesley
High Resolution photo here
Quote of the Day
"But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"
-- Winston Churchill

News of Note:
In Iraq:
50 Terrorists Killed in Iraq Offensive
Marines, Iraqi troops launch 2nd offensive

"Gitmo Dick"
Durbin Defends Gitmo Claims

Fox News
Al-Zawahiri Tape Slams U.S. (because the only way to bring change is armed jihad)
'Operation Spear' Launched in Iraq
GI Charged With Killing Officers
Top Zarqawi Aide Nabbed in Mosul
Iran to Hold Runoff Election
Security Breach May Put 40M Credit Card Holders at Risk
Taliban Rebels Take at Least 10 Afghan Cops Hostage
House OKs U.N. Reform Bill
Rice to Israel: No Settlements
Durbin Defends Gitmo Claims

JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Rice urges cooperation in Gaza withdrawal
Slain civil rights worker's mom testifies
Iran to have 1st presidential runoff ever

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Candidates reflect Lebanon's past, future
Palestinians create mixed electoral system
Probe: Truck bomb killed Lebanon's Hariri
Taliban rebels kidnap 11 police officers
Roadside bomb kills 10-year-old girl
Israel to build undersea barrier off Gaza
Clashes in Egypt leave two dead
Mission along Israel-Syria border extended
Al-Qaida No. 2 disparages U.S. on reform
A look at U.S. military deaths in Iraq
Car bomb kills 4, injures 15 in Iraq
Army staff sergeant charged with murder
Pakistani nuke father to leave hospital
Ecumenical patriarch welcomes pope's call-
Summary: Iranians vote for president
U.S. launches combat operation in Iraq
Expatriates urge Iranians to boycott vote

Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US ambassador to Iraq confirmed by Senate
Car bomber kills five Iraqis in Fallujah
U.S. launches 2nd big operation, 50 rebels killed

CENTCOM
Commandos continue to press terrorists
Water Project on schedule in Southern Iraq
Iraqi Marines Prepare to Take Over Oil Platform Security
New Ukraine Government Continues in the Global War on Terror
CJTF-HOA assists Djiboutian vaccination program
Coalition Forces locate weapons caches in Al Anbar update

Department of Defense
Patience Needed as Democracy Emerges— Story
DoD Strongly Supports Stabilization Office — Story
Exercise Trains Africans to Fight Terrorism — Story
Operation Spear Begins in Anbar Province — Story
Iraqis Increasingly Intolerant of Insurgents
Citizens Providing More Help to Iraqi, Coalition Forces
Iraq Deadline Would Encourage Terrorists
Americans Need to Recognize Progress in Iraq
Raid Nabs Mosul's Top al Qaeda Operative

ON THE GROUND
U.S., Iraqi Soldiers Reverse Effects of War — Story
Kitchen Builders Serve Up Safer Humvees — Story
Mississippi Guard Troops Patrol for Insurgents — Story

IN IRAQ
Woman Soldier Receives Silver Star for Valor
Iraqis Prepare for Oil Platform Security Duties
U.S. Army Doctors Offer Hope, Health to Iraqis

IN AFGHANISTAN
Bagram Groundbreaking Marks Hospital Start
Infantry Course Provides Realistic Training

FACE OF DEFENSE
First Female Pilot Joins 2006 Thunderbirds Team — Story

HOMECOMING
'Chalk 68' Soldiers Return from Afghanistan

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Band Rocks for Wounded Troops — Story

TOP NEWS
IN IRAQ
Soldier Charged in Deaths
Leader Talks of Progress in Iraq
Employee Lauded for Iraqi Progress
Iraq Daily Update
Maps
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
U.S. Soldiers Wounded by IED
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
DoD Guidance Deals with Detainees
Exercise Tests Attack Response
Officials Detail Detainee Efforts
Progress in WMD Countermeasure
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Influencers Can Affect Recruiting
Invention Eases Helmet Discomfort
Deployed Can Use Travel Specials
National Guard, Reserve Update

HONORING THE FALLEN
Memorial Remembers Fallen — Story

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Marine Casualties — Story

This Day in History
1178 - Canterbury monks report an explosion on the moon; believed by some to be the time of the origin of the moon's Giordano Bruno crater.
1778 - British Redcoats evacuate Philadelphia.
1812 - War of 1812 begins - The U.S. declares war on Britain.
1815 - Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
1822 - Part of the American-Canadian boundary is determined.
1863 - Confederates race to fortify Vicksburg.
1864 - General U.S. Grant ends four days of assaults at Petersburg.
1872 - Woman's Sufferage Convention held at Merchantile Liberty Hall
1873 - Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote for President.
1940 - Winston Churchill makes his Battle of Britain / "finest hour" speech.
would remember that "this was their finest hour"
1942 - Bernard W. Robinson becomes the first black U.S. Navy ensign.
1945 - William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) is charged with treason.
1948 - The National Security Council authorizes covert operations for the first time; the UN Commission on Human Rights adopts the International Declaration of Human Rights.
1953 - Egypt is proclaimed a republic; a USAF C124 Globemaster crashes near Tokyo killing 129 servicemen
1956 - Last of foreign troops leaves Egypt
1959 -The first telecast is transmitted from (England to U.S.).
1968 - The Supreme Court bans racial discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.
1977 - The Space Shuttle test model "Enterprise" carries a crew aloft (fixed to a Boeing 747).
1981 - Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart retires.
1982 - The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is extended by the Senate.
1983 - The 7th Shuttle Mission, Challenger 2, is launched. Aboard is the first U.S. woman astronaut, Sally Ride.
1983 - The IRA's Joseph Doherty is arrested in NYC.
1991 - President Zachary Taylor's body is exhumed to assess cause of death.

Birthdays
1877 - James Montgomery Flagg illustrator "I want you" recruiting poster
1926 - Tom Wicker columnist (NY Times)
1937 - John D (Jay) Rockefeller IV (Sen-III) ; Vitali M Zholobov cosmonaut (Soyuz 21)

Passings
1974 - Georgi Zhukov, WWII Russian Marshal
1975 - Faisal Ibn Mussed Abdul Aziz, Saudi prince, beheaded (in a shopping center parking lot in Riyadh) for killing his uncle, the king

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Armond, Robert L., USAF (CA); killed in the collision of 2 B-52's, body not recovered.
Gehrig, James M., Jr., USAF (PA); killed in the collision of 2 B-52's, body not recovered.
Lowry, Tyrrell G., USAF (OR); killed in the collision of 2 B-52's, body not recovered.
Neville, William E., USAF (CA); killed in the collision of 2 B-52's, body not recovered.
Roberts, Harold J., Jr., USAF (OR); killed in the collision of 2 B-52's, body not recovered.
Watson, Frank P., USAF (OK); killed in the collision of 2 B-52's, body not recovered.

1967
Guillory, Edward J., US Army (LA); OH23 helicopter disappeared
Lemmons, William E., US Army (ID); OH23 helicopter disappeared
McKittrick, James C., US Army (SC); OH23 helicopter disappeared

1968
Ravencraft, James Alvin, US Army (OH); Remains recovered February, 1969

1970
Drake, Carl Wilson, USAF (OH); F4E shot down, KIA, body not recovered
Green, James A., US Army (OK); KIA, body not recovered
McLamb, Harry Lawrence, USAF (GA); F4E shot down, KIA, body not recovered

1971
The following Killed when their EKA3B developed mechanical problems and crashed into Tonkin Bay; bodies not recovered
Bidwell, Barry A., USN (PA)
DeBlasio, Raymond V., USN (NY)
Painter, John R., Jr. , USN (MA)

1972
The following KIA when their AC130A was shot down, remains ID'd October, 1994
Ayres, Gerald F., USAF (DE)
Cole, Richard M., Jr., USAF (NY)
Danielson, Mark G., USAF (CO)
Gilbert, Paul F., USAF (TX)
Harrison, Robert H., USAF (NY)
Hunt, Leon A., USAF (KY)
Klinke, Donald H., USAF (CA)
Lehrke, Stanley L. USAF (CA)
Mercer, Jacob E., USAF (FL)
NyHof, Richard E., USAF (CA)
Newman, Larry J., USAF (NE)
Wilson, Robert A., USAF (MI)

Also lost in 1972:
Kilpatrick, Larry Ronald, USN (GA); A7A crash, reportedly killed

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