WASHINGTON — Capt. Larry Snowden led a company of 230 Marines that landed on the beach of a small Japanese island on Feb. 19, 1945. Five weeks later, when Iwo Jima fell to U.S. forces after one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific during World War II, his unit’s losses reflected the steep cost of an historic victory.

“When we walked off the island, 99 of us remained,” said Snowden, 93, the senior ranking survivor of the invasion, who retired from the Marines as a lieutenant general in 1979. “That’s a pretty high casualty rate.”

Snowden spoke Thursday in Washington at a gathering of Iwo Jima survivors who marked the 70th anniversary of the start of the siege. Over the decades, the battle’s prominence has persisted, owing to a photograph that shows five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising an American flag on Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest point.

Yet it is the ferocity of the fighting that lingers in the memories of the men sent to Iwo Jima.

Snowden’s company belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment of the 4th Marine Division. His unit went ashore the first day, part of the initial push of 30,000 U.S. troops, most of whom were Marines…”

Forrás : http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/02/20/iwo-jima-survivors-gather-in-washington-to-mark-wwii-battle.html?ESRC=marine.nl

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — For those who served with Eddie Ray Routh in the Iraqi desert, the man on trial for gunning down the famed “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and a friend is not the Marine they had come to know.

“The Routh I knew looked up to people who did that kind of job,” said former Cpl. Ryker Pawloski . “He respected war fighters like you wouldn’t believe.”

“It just doesn’t fathom,” agreed Corey Smalley , who shared a metal trailer with Routh at Camp Fallujah. “He wasn’t the picture-perfect Marine, even though that’s what he wanted to be. And the people he looked up to the most were people like Chris Kyle . He always wanted to be those people — be the people that Marines from now on will always be talking about.”

Routh achieved that — but not the way he’d hoped.

The 27-year-old stands charged with capital murder in the Feb. 2, 2013, slayings of the former Navy SEAL and his friend, Chad Littlefield . Kyle, who by his own count made more than 300 kills, volunteered with veterans facing mental health problems. Kyle and Littlefield took Routh to a shooting range after his mother asked Kyle to help her son cope with post-traumatic stress disorder and other personal demons…”

Forrás : http://www.military.com/off-duty/movies/2015/02/22/american-sniper-suspects-ex-comrades-mourn-man-they-knew.html?ESRC=marine.nl

RALEIGH, N.C. — A U.S. Marine who vanished a decade ago in Iraq was convicted Monday of desertion for leaving his post there and then fleeing to Lebanon after a brief return to the U.S.

The judge at Camp Lejeune, Marine Maj. Nicholas Martz, ruled in a bench trial that Cpl. Wassef Hassoun was guilty of deserting for the 2004 and 2005 disappearances. Hassoun was also convicted of causing the loss of his service pistol.

Sentencing is expected later this week after more witnesses are called. A spokesman for the U.S. Marines, Capt. Stewart Coles, said in a release that Hassoun faces a maximum penalty of 7 ½ years in prison, reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge…”

Forrás : http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/02/23/us-marine-who-vanished-in-iraq-found-guilty-of-desertion.html?ESRC=marine.nl

“by Matthew Cox on February 19, 2015

The Marine Corps has authorized MARSOC operators to carry Glock pistols, since many of the elite outfit’s members prefer the popular 9mm over the custom .45 pistols the service bought them in 2012.

The Corps issued a Feb. 2 Marine Administrative Message, or MARADMIN, that green-lighted Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, units to use the Glock 19, a proven design used by many units in U.S. Special Operations Command.

The reliable, easy-to-maintain 9mm features a polymer frame and a 15-round magazine.

The Marine Corps just completed an exhaustive search for a new MARSOC pistol in 2012. The service awarded a $22.5 million contract to Colt Defense LLC., for up to 10,000 Close Quarter Battle Pistols.

The custom, 1911 design replaced the fleet of worn-out MARSOC M45 pistols. It features a rail for mounting lights, a custom trigger, a manual safety, improved ergonomics and glowing Tritium sights for low-light conditions…”

“70 years ago on this day, (February 19, 1945) over 30,000 Marines of the 3rd Marine Division, the 4th Marine Division, and the new 5th Marine Division, making up the V Amphibious Corps, landed on the black, volcanic sands of Iwo Jima. This five-week battle, for an eight square-mile volcanic island, comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II….”

Forrás : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Devil-Dog-Graphix/285178101936?fref=photo