I don't need this!

But? Yes I do!

Yes Sir, that was one I was talking about.

Thanks

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TomNab2

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TomNab2

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TomNab2

Just a thought - I don't know if the mods have seen this yet or even what their thoughts are... Regardless, I feel like a thread such as this should exist on the MODF for as long as we're at war with photos of the reality of war being shown for the simple purpose of never letting anyone forget as it continues.

It's nearly 0200 here, and by God I've welled up tears in my eyes twice as I gazed over this thread...... such things should never be forgotten during time of war.

Bump.

This thread out to be tacked up.

Semper Fi

Seeks safety in distance and all that...

Semper Fidelis

Volfandt

quote:

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Originally posted by Stretch67:
Semper Fidelis, Brothers.

We will remember.

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No actually most of us will move on and forget. We will certainly remember on Memorial Day and on some other special occassions but for the most part we will move on. And we will expect them to move on also.

But some of these guys will show up on the Internet sometime in the future. They may have some anger in their posts. They may talk of things that we have no understanding of. They may in fact make us feel uncomfortable...with their talk of combat and the desert. Talking like we did not share their pain or understand what they went thru.Talking like they did something special. And they would be right. They have done something...really special. Unless you have stood in a war zone and been a part of these pictures...you really do not understand.

So when these guys do show up sometime in the future...and it masy be decades before they really start to open up...lets show a little understanding and compassion...a little more than we have shown for the guys that have gone before them.



.

Doc Ski
Alpha Co 3rd Reconnaissance Bn 1965-66

Navy/FMF Corpsman: "They are long-haired, loud-mouthed, disrespectful SOB's who would walk through the gates of hell to save a wounded Marine."

Author-Unknown Marine RVN

Here's a link to a slide show of numerous somber photos presented as a tribute to the Men and Women of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

We Support You

I think every Devil Dog here should forward this link or those pictures to everyone they know. It's a gut wrenching reminder of what Memorial Day was, is and always should be all about. It's not about a day off of work to get drunk and barbecue, it's a day to remember that the rights we take for granted today were paid for once and are being paid for again with the blood of our Nation's finest.

Semper Fi and RIP Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines

bump

bump

All these photos really remind you of what you are doing in the Corp while they are out there on the front line. All these pictures make me glad I am a United States Marine. Semper Fi to all those fighting

I have a hard time looking at some of those photos without crying.Does me good though.Shows I still care!

Semper Fi, Bob

Go easy bro's. You will NEVER be forgotten.

Semper Fidelis

RobC

A Marine honor guard walks with the flag-draped coffin of Marine Lance Corporal Bob W. Roberts, 30, at his funeral in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, May 26, 2004. Roberts, who was raised in Portland but lived in Newport, Ore., was killed May 17 by hostile fire in Iraq's Al Anbar province. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)



Twenty-one-year-old Enrique Villa, with U.S. military's 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines Regiment's Fox Company, signals other Marines while searching the road-side for improvised explosive devices near Falluja, Iraq early May 26, 2004. REUTERS/Adrees Latif



U.S. Marine Richard Sullivan, from Chicago, Illinois walking point ahead of his convoy to "find" IEDs so that they can be disarmed or set off (on him) rather than his convoy. This photo speaks candidly of the Marines who are willing to put themselves on the line for the sake of their comrades.





Combat boots bearing the names of some 800 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq form an exhibit called 'Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War in Iraq,' on display next to the Capitol in Washington, May 25, 2004.


U.S.soldiers attend an injured U.S.soldier in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, after thunderous explosions the capital, Tuesday, May 25, 2004.


U.S.soldiers rush to evacuate an injured U.S.soldier in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 25, 2004.

For Lance Corporal Gary Van Leuven, of Coos Bay, Oregon.


For Lieutenant John Wroblewsk, of Oak Ridge, New Jersey.


For Lance Corporal Aaron Austin, of Amarllo, Texas.


For Corporal Ron Payne Jr., of Tampa, Florida.


So many good men.....................

Semper Fi,
Wayne

Just got thru looking at all the photos and must say it still hits home. I will have to check back more often.

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Marine awards his Purple Heart to a 'brother'
MIKE ARGENTO
Tuesday, May 11, 2004


Before the service began, the gruff-looking biker walked to the front of the sanctuary of Valley View Alliance Church.

He looked out of place. In a room full of dark suits, he wore his colors — a sleeveless denim jacket adorned with patches and bearing the logo of the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club. His muscled arms were covered with tattoos. His nickname was embroidered on the front of his colors — Three Tours.

When he got to the front of the church, he placed a flat jewelry box on top of Martin Kondor's flag-draped coffin. He turned, hugged Kondor's brother, Joe, and left.

No words were exchanged.

None were needed.

The gesture, what he left on Kondor's coffin, spoke for itself.

The biker is Bill Sultzbach, a 56-year-old Wrightsville man.

He's also a Marine.

He served with India Company, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines in Vietnam. He joined the Marines in '66 and volunteered for duty in Vietnam. It was the right thing to do, he said. A lot of guys his age were ducking the service. He didn't. He felt he owed it to his country to serve, that he had to serve.

He was in Vietnam from November 1966 to November 1969. He did three, year-long tours. "Two wasn't enough for me; I needed three," he said, explaining his nickname.

The Third Battalion is called the Thundering Third. Sultzbach wears the unit's patch on his colors. His unit operated all over the northern provinces of South Vietnam — from Hue to Quang Tri to Khe Sanh. He was in-country during the Tet Offensive, when North Vietnamese troops took advantage of the Vietnamese New Year cease-fire to launch major attacks. His unit fought outside Hue, scene of the some of the bloodiest combat of the war.

After Tet, his unit was taking a hill in the north, near the DMZ, when they came under heavy fire. One of his buddies was hit ahead of him. Sultzbach crawled to him, threw him over his shoulders and carried him down the hill. Along the way, a grenade exploded to his right, peppering his leg, arm and the side of his head with shrapnel.

The docs patched him up, and he went back to his unit. He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. The company commander gave him his medals in the field and sent him back into the fighting.

He still carries the shrapnel with him, and plenty of other scars from his service. Now, the Veterans Administration classifies him as 100 percent disabled.

He kept his Purple Heart with him. It meant a lot, symbolizing, as it did, his sacrifice for his country.

When he heard about Martin Kondor's death, he knew what he had to do. The 20-year-old Eastern York graduate had been killed by a makeshift bomb in Baqubah, Iraq, on April 29.

Sultzbach rode his Harley to the Valley View Alliance Church Monday morning to pay his respects and to represent those who served in Vietnam. "I'm Marines, and he's Army," he said. "But that doesn't matter. We're brothers."

He struggled to find a way to honor his fallen brother.

He thought about it and decided to give Martin Kondor — a man he never met — one of his prized possessions — his Purple Heart.

"Plain and simple," Sultzbach said, "he did something I didn't. He gave his life for his country. He deserves it a lot more than I did.

"This man earned it far beyond what I paid for it. I just felt a deep feeling to give this man my medal."

During the memorial service, the Army awarded Martin Kondor his own Purple Heart.

Somehow, you think, the one from a brother in arms means more. Inside the jewelry box, he wrote, simply, "From Sgt. Bill Sultzbach to Pfc. Spc. Martin Kondor."

After placing his medal on Martin Kondor's coffin, Sultzbach left the church, climbed aboard his bike and left. He didn't stay for the service. He doesn't like funerals. Too depressing. Too many flag-draped coffins in his past.

_________________________________________________

Semper Fi,
Wayne

Bump

My husband whom is a Former Marine and member also of this Forum, Left me a note on the table this morning before he went to work and told me to take a look at this forum today. I tell ya...I was in tears..as many of you were Im sure. Thank you Fella's for posting those photos..as an adopted Marine Mom, It really gave me a reality check on whats going on over there...and everywhere and what our guys and gals go thru. Which our Marine has told us its not a pretty picture. So to all our Military Period..!!.our Prayers go out to them all and their Families. I would like the permission to use these photos on my website and send this to all the People I know in America and around the world. Its time "EVERYONE" Gets a WAKE UP CALL!!!! Don't you agree????? Thanks again fella's.

LilBlueAngel


~Proud Marine Mom~

Gone and not forgotten Semper Fi.

I been to a couple of my friends funerals whom were Iraq.

But those pictures still made me teary eyed, and Marines don't shed tears easily.

Should we write thier familys with letters?