3 Quarters Today

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Two Marine Heroes Killed in Afghanistan

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Commemoration of a Marine, Yuma AZ
USMC Base, Yuma AZ

A commemoration of Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible, former commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 211, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, stands within the halls of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma‘s chapel, Sept. 24. Raible, 40, a native of North Huntingdon, Penn., died while supporting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Sept. 14. A dedicated aviator, Raible amassed more than 2,000 hours in the AV-8B Harrier. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Hundreds of service members, family and friends pay their respects to Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible, former commanding officer, Marine Attack Squadron 211, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, during his memorial service at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma’s chapel, Sept. 24. Raible, 40, a native of North Huntingdon, Penn., died while supporting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Sept. 14. A father and husband as well as an accomplished aviator, Raible served the Corps faithfully for 17 years.

Ceremony for a Marine killed in Afghanistan
USMC Base, Yuma AZ

Sgt. Bradley W. Atwell, 27, of Kokomo, Ind. was honored during a memorial service at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma Chapel on Sept. 21. Atwell served with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing as an avionics technician and died Sept. 15 while supporting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. His awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and NATO-Service Medal-International Security Assistance Force.

So many Marines, soldiers, and airmen have been killed and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past ten years. These two stand out in my mind due to their connection with my oldest Marine. I read the words of the squadron and think of my son Nathan. I think that if he had been approved his deployment extension he could have been in that hanger, instead of just returning home from Nebraska on post deployment leave.

It takes my breath away. They are a reminder of how it could of been his funeral. Nathan served with these men in Afghanistan and my heart goes out to their families and friends.

Families of Marines live in silent fear their loved ones will pay the ultimate sacrifice.  It’s unspoken, yet lies in the heart of every Marine Mother, wife and family member. Thank you to every service man and women and their families who support them.

The above information and photos were found on the MCAS Yuma AZ facebook page.

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How Marines Relieve Stress in Afghanistan, with “Call Me Maybe”

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I don’t know why this Call Me Maybe song by Carly Rae Jepsen has inspired so many lip synch covers but everyone seems to be doing it, including the United States Marines.

US Marine overseas heading to AfghanistanWhen my son returned from his Afghanistan deployment in late July he had not seen the below video yet and was super excited.  He knew some of the Marines in the video via his job in Air Wing support at Camp Bastion, but this was filmed in Kandahar before the squadron moved to the larger, more secure, base. It wasn’t until he returned home he learned about  the video.

This version below is especially poignant now. They are part of the 3rd Marine air Wing‘s Marine Aircraft Group 13 out of Yuma AZ,  the same ones attacked September 14, 2012 ,where two of their Marines were killed.

I heard first the news on Facebook where I’m friends with a number of Marine Moms who have sons stationed at Yuma, or connected to the Harriers, posted the news on Friday and I slightly freaked out thinking it could have been my son if he was there.  I can’t help but think of the Marines and their families as they waited for news from their sons and husbands.

As my son said, this is what we do Mom, other Marine bases get a “..whole lot more IDF’s”  (indirect fire) it’s our job. So as a good Marine Mom, I go on and want to remember the young men and women as they took time out for this very fun video.  I think they would want their families to remember them this way, with a smile on their face, taking a break from the seriousness of their jobs.

Marines Lip Synch Call Me Maybe

Now for a version the Marines REALLY like to watch. Before you watch it, here’s a little bit of background. For obvious, logistics and otherwise, most Marines and soldiers don’t have internet access and they rely on other forms of electronic entertainment. For example, my sons group had a  “Deployment Drive”. This is a portable hard drive loaded with an electronic library of  specific downloaded YouTube videos, games and movies

The the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders version was watched SEVERAL times a day, my son said he had it memorized and knew what cheerleader came on at what time.  The look on his face when he talked about this song at the dinner table was priceless. Can you just guess why it’s popular with a bunch of testosterone filled young men, in the middle of a desert, in Afghanistan?

Hey, the stress over there is hard enough, 12 hour+ days, seven days a week. Whatever can take their mind off terrorists and people who want to kill them for a little while  is fine with me.

Gift Ideas for Deployed Military

By the way, for anyone looking to buy a gift for someone in the military who is going to be deployed or already in country, this solar charger is ideal. They listen to a lot of music, but batteries can be difficult to come by in the desert, especially if they are outside the wire. It will charge a cell or smart phone in less than two hours in the sun.

Marines in Afghanistan

Proud Mom of Two Marines, and Counting

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I’m the Mom of two Marines, strike that, THREE Marines.  I have the “Proud Parent of a Marine” sticker on my back window. However, I want to tell the world that I’m the Mom of TWO Marines.

In 2010 I couldn’t find Marine gear on the “official” sites. So I created my own.Mom of Two Marines Pinback Buttons

I understand trademark control. The Marine Corps wants, and needs, to control their image and how their logos are used. CafePress  there are guidelines for developing branded USMC products including which images you can use, which images can not be manipulated, where the text can be located etc.
If you have an idea for Marine gear that you haven’t been able to find let me know and let’s see what I can come up with for you. I’m envisioning a shirts, line of buttons, bumper stickers, cards, mugs, canvas bags, key chains and even iPhone covers. I’m so excited about this I often stay up until the wee hours of the morning designing.
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Girls Journey From Civilian to Marine: Letter #4

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Here is the last letter from Devil Doggery and her journey from civilian to a United States Marine. I really had to laugh at this letter as she sounded just like my youngest son in his last phase at boot camp. EVERYTHING was about food! I’m even going to compare the two letters. Here is an excerpt from her letter. (full one can be read here)

nutter butter
nutter butter (Photo credit: roboppy)

“And, again, I’m going to spend time talking about how I want to stuff my face so badly. You know what sucks though? I was trying to play exactly what I was going to eat as soon as I got home and then I realized… I’m probably flying into San Jose at like, midnight or later. And I could still go get something, but … I want Asian food and that  ain’t open that late. Or some In-N-Out… Mmm… But regardless, I’m sure if it’s that late, all I’ll want to do is pass out. And fortunately, I’ll still be able to get tasty snacks and such before then, because we have Liberty Sunday the day after we get back from the Crucible, meaning we get to wander the base and buy actual food, and a bunch of the other recruits said that their families would be willing to adopt me on Family Day (the day before graduation).

Either that or I figured I could mooch some treats off of them and then run off with some of the other orphans and have a bit of free time. Even though I’m a geek, so I find myself wodnering if there’s a bookstore somewhere on this base… LOL. I NEED TO READ THE SECOND BOOK IN THE CHAOS WALKING TRILOGY. Also, I would like to read Divergent. I think I just miss reading. And TV. Oh man, if I could, I would so just buy a pint of ice cream and a pack of cookies, (Chips Ahoy or Nutter Butters), and find a TV and just veg. That’s how I would spend my Liberty Sunday. Because I’m boring, LOL.

I want me some sushi and like, KBBQ and chocolate milkshakes and a burger and a donut from this awesome donut place in downtown Campbell, and banh mi from Lee’s, and Yogurtland, and EVERYTHING. I’m hungry. This needs to stop.“

Below is an excerpt from my son’s letter from last fall before he graduated from US Marine boot camp.

Liberty formation during a Marine Family Day
Marching in very formally with great ceremony

“Find a cheesecake place and pizza. Girl scout Caramel Delights are also on my snack list. Oh, and I’ll want to be stopping a lot to eat. One of the snack items is Eli’s Mama muffins, also cake, like back home, chocolate with vanilla frosting. Don’t forget Tammy’s Orero balls Swedish fish, beef jerky, snickers, and Twix.  Anything snacky. Bring my MP3 player with my songs on it, I seriously want to sing to the Carnegie Hall music”

It seems the topic of food is the number one discussion item in the barracks as boot camp gets closer to an end. If you don’t remember my son’s journey here is what he did actually eat on Family Day. It would impress the most serious competitive eater. We all stood in awe.

So in the end it doesn’t matter, male or female, they all crave the comforts of home, which starts with food.

This young women has most likely gone through the Crucible and is now a Marine. Graduation probably right around the corner. I’ll be interested in hearing her feelings now that boot camp is over.

Liberty Formation on Family Day
Liberty Formation on Family Day
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A Girls Journey from Civilian to Marine: Letter #3

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If you’ve been following my blog you’ll know that I have two sons who are United States Marines. I admire anyone who serves their country and joins any branch of the military. However, the Marines have the toughest basic training of any branch. Unlike other branches, the men and women train separately. To me this totally makes sense.

US Marines Sound Off
US Marines Sound Off (my son 2nd from right)

Beyond the obvious distraction of men and women training together, is the sheer physicality.  During a two mile platoon men will almost always run faster as a unit than women. The ones that fall behind get a drill instructor in their face. Doesn’t matter the amount of yelling, the average female recruit will not run as fast as the average male recruit. The goal is to learn to run, march and move as one.

I’m sure psychologically the intensity is the same, it may even be worse as women can be vicious to each other.

Here is letter number three from a young woman who is taking on the challenge of becoming a Marine. To see the read the whole letter and others visit Devil Doggery and post a comment to give her support. (she is sending letters home that a friend is posting for her)

“And speaking of quals, to answer your question, no, you don’t need to know how to swim before you get to boot camp. They teach you if you can’t and even if you fail the first day, you have the entire week to get your s*** together. Our platoon had 3 people from the earlier platoon who got dropped for swim, but everyone passed this time around. And hellz yeah I’m getting buff! I’ve lost 14 lbs. since I got here and I somehow ended up as a cooler recruit, meaning me and the other 3 have to lug heavy-ass coolers everywhere we go. And do a bunch of other s***  that involves running around with heavy things. It’s not all bad though. We get to go chow earlier than everyone else and most of the time we get back to the squad bay way before the platoon, so we get time to make head calls and socialize. And it’s good exercise, so I’m not complaining. Too much.

But we’ve done a lot since I last wrote. We did the rappel tower and the gas chamber (both terrifying, but not as bad as I thought it would be), our initial PFT (Physical Fitness Test), and… I’m sure some other stuff that I can’t quite remember. We’re seeing a lot more of the males now, although the DI’s are very strict about making sure we don’t look at each other. So mostly I just see backs of shaved heads, haha. It’s kind of cool to think about how they’re going through the exact same stuff as us, though. Especially with Echo Company, which is the male company we’ll be graduating with. They were doing all that stuff I mentioned earlier at the exact same time our company was. And OMG, when we were doing the gas chamber, we were getting the brief at the same time the males were and some people had to go outside to exchange their masks. 

I’ve officially shot an MI6A4 service rifle with an RCO attached. Boo-yah. It was pretty awesome, although the sound was nothing like how I expected it to be. It kind of sounds like a cap gun, in all honesty. The recoil also wasn’t bad at all, although I will admit, my face was a little too close to the scope and my eye got slammed a few times. But all in all, shooting is super fun (albeit uncomfortable), and I’m not as nervous about qualifying. Whether I can get expert is an entirely different story, but I’ma do my best, yo. Still have 3 more days to practice, so there’s time. I’m sure by the time I write my next letter, I’ll be able to tell you how I did :)“