Marine Lance Cpl. Roger D. Castleberry Jr.
Died August 1, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
Marine Sgt. Nathaniel S. Rock
Died August 1, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
Sgt. David J. Coullard, 32
Glastonbury, Connecticut
Died August 1, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
Marine Lance Cpl. Brian P. Montgomery
Died August 1, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel N. Deyarmin Jr.
Died August 1, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
Marine Cpl. Jeffrey A. Boskovitch
Died August 1, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
A Soldier's Prayer...
The soldier stood and faced his God Which must always come to pass...
He hoped his shoes were shining Just as brightly as his brass.
"Step forward now, you soldier, How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek? To My Church have you been true?"
The soldier squared his shoulders and Said,"No, Lord, I guess I ain't...
Because those of us who carry guns Can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent, Because the streets are awfully tough.
But, I never took a penny That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime When the bills got just too steep,
And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place Among the people here...
They never wanted me around Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here, Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much, But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was a silence all around the throne Where the saints had often trod...
As the soldier waited quietly, For the judgment of his God,
"Step forward now you soldier,
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Dedicated To All That Serve... God Bless America!
6 Marine Snipers Are Slain in Ambush in Western Iraq;
The Americans said the six marines killed Monday afternoon had formed a pair of sniper teams that were working near Haditha, one of a string of cities along the Euphrates River believed to make up the main infiltration route for guerrillas entering Iraq and moving toward Baghdad. The snipers were working in two teams of three men each; both teams were wiped out.
"I don't believe there are any surviving eyewitnesses," a senior Marine officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The ambush follows at least a half-dozen American military offensives in the area to root out insurgents and shut down the "rat line," as it is called, that is believed to shuttle insurgents from sanctuaries on or across the Syrian border into the Iraqi heartland. The Americans staged the operations in the hope of restoring Iraqi authority, but the guerrillas have proved resilient.
Ansar al Sunna, an insurgent group, took responsibility for the ambush in a posting on an Islamist Web site, claiming that its men, which it called the Lions of Monotheism, had killed eight marines, "some of them by guns and others by beheading."
There was no way to verify the claim.
One of the marines who American officials acknowledged had been killed was unaccounted for after the ambush. His body was found later more than a mile away from the ambush site, suggesting, according to one Pentagon official, that he may have been dragged away by the insurgents.
In its Web posting, Ansar al Sunna said it had killed the marines in a "compact ambush," as they walked in the Jazeera neighborhood north of the city. The unit involved in the attack, the group said, went by the Arabic word Tawid, meaning allegiance to one god, commonly used by Sallafis and other ultraconservative Islamist sects.
The Associated Press reported that several masked men, claiming to be members of Ansar al Sunna, had appeared in the city's central market, carrying helmets, flak jackets and rifles they said had belonged to American troops. They passed out fliers.
"They were on a mountain near the town so we went up, surrounded them and asked them to surrender," one of the fliers said, according to The A. P. "They did not surrender, so we killed them."
The killing of six American marines on foot is unusual. Most American casualties result from "indirect" fire like mortar explosions and bomb blasts. Ordinarily, in a street fight, the guerrillas are no match for the marines.
