Washington Post – Screaming “Allahu Akbar” to the end, the foreign fighters lay on their backs in a narrow crawl space under a house and blasted their machine guns up through the concrete floor with bullets designed to penetrate tanks. They fired at U.S. Marines, driving back wave after wave as the Americans tried to retrieve a fallen comrade. Through Sunday night and into Monday morning, the foreign fighters battled on, their screaming voices gradually fading to just one. In the end, it took five Marine assaults, grenades, a tank firing bunker-busting artillery rounds, 500-pound bombs unleashed by an F/A-18 attack plane and a point-blank attack by a rocket launcher to quell them. The Marines got their fallen man, suffering one more dead and at least five wounded in the process. And according to survivors of the battle, the foreign fighters near the Syrian border proved to be everything their reputation had suggested: fierce, determined and lethal to the last.
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Category Archives: USMarines
US Marines – Article Prompts Marines to Recall Vests
Associated Press – The Marine Corps is recalling 5,277 combat vests issued to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Djibouti after a newspaper article raised concerns that they failed a test to determine whether they could stop a bullet.
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US Marines – Three Point Sling
Marine Corps Gazette – As the 7th Marines regimental gunner, the author provides tactical advice for young Marines going into combat.
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US Marines – Marines Kill 100 Fighters In Sanctuary Near Syria
Washington Post – More than 1,000 Marines backed by Cobra helicopter gunships and F-18 jets attacked targets Monday in a region of northwestern Iraq that commanders called a sanctuary for foreign fighters. As many as 100 insurgents were killed and 10 captured in the assault near the Syrian border.
More from the Daily Telegraph – US in border battle to curb Iraq insurgency
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US Marines – Larger Special Operations Role Being Urged on Marines
Washington Post – With conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan tying up many U.S. Special Operations forces, the Pentagon has found itself short of the elite teams it typically deploys around the world for specialized combat missions and for training foreign militaries, defense officials say. To help fill the gap, the Marine Corps has stepped forward with a decision to establish a standing force of “foreign military training units” by this autumn.
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US Marines – The Marines' flawed body armor
Marine Corps Times – The Marine Corps issued to nearly 10,000 troops body armor that government experts urged the Corps to reject after tests revealed critical, life-threatening flaws in the vests.
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US Marines – US Marines land on Somali coast to hunt militants
Reuters – U.S. Marines landed on Somalia’s coast in one of their most visible hunts for militants in the country since they set up a Horn of Africa counter terrorism force in 2002.
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US Marines – Forced Marriage
Sea Power – Pentagon orders Marine Corps and Army to merge two situational awareness systems, but cultural differences prevail.
US Marines – Marines From Iraq Sound Off About Want of Armor and Men
New York Times – In returning home to the US from Iraq, Marines have chosen to break an institutional code of silence and tell their story, one they say was punctuated not only by a lack of armor, but also by a shortage of men and planning that further hampered their efforts in battle, destroyed morale and ruined the careers of some of their fiercest warriors.
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US Marines – Operation Homecoming
News Hour – Writing military history, from the ground up.
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US Marines – Interview With a Senator and a Marine
Marine Corps Gazette – The ranks of former Marines serving in Congress are thinning. In this interview the author profiles one of our most distinguished Marine Corps ambassadors who served brilliantly in the United States Senate.
US Marines – Battle-Weary Marine Unit Awaits 'Taste Of Freedom'
Washington Post – A look at the first Marine unit to serve three rotations in Iraq.
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US Marines – Field Medical Service School
Leatherneck – “Corpsman up!” Not something any Marine wants to shout, but each leatherneck knows that cry sends motivated Field Medical Service School-trained corpsmen into immediate action.
US Marines – Marine general upbeat upon return from Iraq
San Diego Union Tribune – The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force has returned from Iraq.
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US Marines – In Iraq with 'reservists that fight'
Christian Science Monitor – When the reservists of Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 23rd Marine Regiment based in Houston got the call, most expected an uneventful tour in Iraq. The marines had anticipated pulling only security duty. Six months later, the Bravo Company infantrymen are as battle-worn and “salty” as any US unit.
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US Marines – Fallujah: A Four Letter Word
Leatherneck – “Red Cloud” to the rescue. This is the conclusion of a two-part heroic tale of a squad of Marines, cut off and nearly overrun in the first battle of Fallujah, April 2004.
US Marines – Interview with the Commandant of the Marine Corps
Sea Power – Gen. Michael W. Hagee is walking point as the Corps bolsters its force, fosters intelligence sharing and improves the reach of its aviation units
US Marines – In Fallujah's wake, marines go west
Christian Science Monitor – US and Iraqi forces have launched Operation River Blitz, targeting insurgents in cities along the Euphrates.
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US Marines – Female Marines Put Training to the Test
Leatherneck – This month, female Marines celebrate 62 years of continuous service since they were allowed to join the Women’s Reserve on Feb. 13, 1943, during World War II. When Congress passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act in 1948, women were allowed to serve as permanent regular members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Today women are contributing significantly to the success of the Marine Corps through a variety of roles. This article introduces a few good Marines serving their country overseas.
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US Marines – Marine Corps' SOTG: Making Special Warriors
Sea Power – A look at the Marine Corps’ Special Operations Training Group (SOTG).
US Marines – Marines, Iraqi Forces Launch Offensive in Ramadi
Washington Post – The Marines are conducting operations outside the town of Ramadi against insurgents.
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US Marines – U.S. Feeling Pressure To Rebuild Fallujah
Washington Post – Another look at the Marine efforts to rebuild Fallujah.
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US Marines – Good night, Fallujah: 'Raider' starts for home
Christian Science Monitor – A Marine unit that fought in Fallajuh looks back on its tour in Iraq and prepares to head home.
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US Marines – Does anyone see need for marines here?
Japan Times – Do the Marines really need their bases on Okinawa?
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US Marines – Fallujah the safest place in Iraq, says US
Daily Telegraph – With the Marines who are rebuilding Fallujah.
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