The Commandant’s message remembers all Marines, but focuses special attention on the Marines who fought in Korea:

To quote Ronald Reagan “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they’ve made a difference to the world…The Marines don’t have that problem.”

Happy Birthday Marines!

Related

• 235 Years of Honor, Courage, and Commitment – Cassy Fiano
• Heroism in ambush may yield top valor awards – Marine Times

Two hundred and thirty five years ago, Continental Congress passed legislation to fit out “two swift sailing vessels” with ten guns and eighty crewmen creating the humble beginnings to what would become the United States Navy.  We celebrate this day as the Navy’s Birthday every year, honoring a tremendous legacy of service, sacrifice and presence around the globe.

Today, our Sailors are adding their own chapter to the Navy’s storied heritage.  From Haiti to the Gulf of Guinea, from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf Shore, they stand as a global force for good in every sense.  And while the Navy’s core values remain Honor, Courage, and Commitment – their versatility and adaptability during these challenging times are also long-cherished Navy hallmarks.

We see this every day not only in the ships, submarines and aircraft underway conducting a wide array of missions including missile defense, anti-piracy efforts, and humanitarian relief, but just as significantly, in the more than 10,000 Sailors who serve on the ground in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.  Their actions profoundly demonstrate that there are times when we defend our national interests best when we help others defend theirs.

Of course, these remarkable efforts would not be possible without the steadfast love and support of our Navy families – I share from personal experience that the Service and our Nation are deeply blessed by their contributions as well.

On behalf of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I congratulate our Sailors and civilians, our proud Navy veterans and our wonderful families on this special day.  Happy Birthday, Shipmates!

Happy 235th Navy!

The CNO’s Birthday video is available here.

President Barack Obama accepted the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander and strategist of the Afghan war, following comments by the general and his aides disparaging the president and other senior officials.

Mr. Obama nominated Gen. David Petraeus, the head of the military’s Central Command and the architect of the surge of forces into Iraq in 2007, to take over as the commanding general in Afghanistan.

The nomination of Gen. Petraeus, who still requires Senate confirmation, sends a signal that the president stands behind the counterinsurgency tactics pushed hard by Gen. McChrystal and championed by Gen. Petraeus.

Mr. Obama said his acceptance of Gen. McChrystal’s recommendation didn’t reflect a disagreement about strategy or any sense of personal insult. “We are in full agreement about our strategy,” he said Wednesday, expressing “great admiration” for the general.

“But war is bigger than any one man,” Mr. Obama said. “As difficult as it is to lose Gen. McChrystal, I believe it is the right decision for our national security.”

He said the change was necessary to maintain a “unity of effort” in Afghanistan. “I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate division.”

I’m sad to see Gen. McChrystal’s career end this way, but given what’s happened I don’t see how he could have stayed on. The remarks made Gen. McChrystal and members of his staff in Rolling Stone were openly contemptuous of the civilian leadership… Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice couldn’t be more on that point:

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Simply put there no was no other way this controversy could end, General McChrystal had to go.

Related

• Why McChrystal Must Go – Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard
• A McChrystal Endnote – Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
• Former Bush White House officials say McChrystal should go – Jon Ward, The Daily Caller

The Mojave Cross saga took yet another unexpected turn Thursday, when the contested symbol that vanished last week reappeared briefly before being taken down by federal officials.

National Park Service officials learned Thursday morning that a cross again was on top of Sunrise Rock, about 10 miles south of Interstate 15 near Cima Road, a sparsely traveled route into the Mojave National Preserve. It’s about 30 miles east of Baker.

Some version of the cross has stood there for 75 years as a tribute to fallen World War I soldiers. Vandals made off with the cross May 9, 10 days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it could remain pending the outcome of a decade-long court battle over whether it should be permitted on public land.

Once federal officials discovered Thursday that it was a replica of the stolen cross, the Justice Department said it had to be taken down.

This is beyond silly, it shouldn’t matter whether it’s the old cross or a new cross to replace the one that was stolen.

The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials.

“This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people’s graves,” said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, which represents the caretakers of the Mojave Desert War Memorial. “It’s a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is re-installed.”

The National Park Service says someone cut the metal bolts holding the metal-pipe cross to the top of the memorial’s Sunrise Rock and made off with it Sunday night or before dawn on Monday.

Authorities had no immediate motive for the theft but National Park Service officials are considering a range of ideas from scrap metal scavengers to people “with an interest in the case,” said Park Service spokeswoman Linda Slater.

I’m really at a loss for words here, whoever did this, whatever their motivations, is a despicable rat bastard.

That said I can’t help but think this cowardly act was perpetrated by some politically motivated ideologue… you would have to have been freeze dried for the last decade not to know the significance of the Mojave Cross, I can’t imagine even the sleaziest  of scrap metal scavengers would be foolish enough to steal it.

Related

• WWI memorial cross stolen from Mojave National Preserve – Stars and Stripes
• Mojave cross theft shows planning; veterans groups vow to rebuild – The Christian Science Monitor
• WWI memorial cross stolen from Mojave National Preserve – Jonn Lilyea, This Ain’t Hell
• Mojave desert cross stolen by vandals – Allahpundit, Hot Air
• Mojave Cross Torn Down and Stolen! – Riding and Ranting
• Mojave Cross Gone. Don’t read if you are afraid of expressions of outrage – morongobills backporch

Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in a toast to the greatest fighting force the world has ever known… The United States Marine Corps.

234th years of unwavering fidelity to Country and  Corps, Happy Birthday, Marines! Semper Fi!

The hero cop who ended the bloody rampage at Fort Hood by pumping four bullets into the crazed gunman even though she was wounded is known for her toughness, friends say.

Before relocating to Texas, civilian police Sgt. Kimberly Munley spent about five years as a cop in North Carolina where she forged a reputation as a no-nonsense officer.

“I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m really not,” said close friend Drew Peterson, 27.

“She was born and bred to be a police officer. If you were ever to be in a fight, she’d be the first person to stand up next to you and back you up. She’s a tough cookie.”

Munley’s toughness and grace under pressure were on display Thursday when she and her partner responded within three minutes of reported gunfire, said Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone.

Munley, who had been trained in active-response tactics, rushed into the building and confronted the shooter as he was turning a corner, Cone said.

“It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer,” Cone said.

Munley was only a few feet from Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan when she opened fire.

Sgt. Munley was wounded in the exchange of gunfire and is reported to be stable condition. If it wasn’t for her bold and decisive actions there’s no telling how many more soldiers that murderous lunatic would have killed.

Bravo Zulu Sergeant, you and your family are in our thoughts and prays. As is everyone affected by yesterday’s events. May God Bless you all.

A military doctor who reportedly feared an impending war deployment is in custody as the sole suspect in a shooting rampage at the Army’s Fort Hood that left 12 dead and 31 wounded, an Army official said Thursday night.

The news that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was alive and in stable condition, came as a sudden reversal of early reports that the gunman was among the dead.

Two other soldiers who were taken into custody as possible suspects were released Lt. Gen. Bob Cone told reporters Thursday evening.

A female first responder who shot at Hasan who was previously thought to be dead, was also alive.

The Fox News report goes on to say that Hasan first came to the attention of Federal Officials were apparently still trying to determine if he was the author of those posts and an official investigation had not been opened.

According the Washington Post Hasan was a devout Muslim who attended service regularly:

Hasan attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring and was “very devout,” according to Faizul Khan, a former imam at the center. Khan said Hasan attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week, often in his Army fatigues.

Khan also said Hasan applied to an annual matrimonial seminar that matches Muslims looking for spouses. “I don’t think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions,” Khan said.

“We never got into details of worldly affairs or politics,” the former imam said of his conversations with Hasan. “Mostly religious questions. But there was nothing extremist in his questions. He never showed any frustration. . . . He never showed any . . . wish for vengeance on anybody.”

I’m not going to speculate on Hasan’s possible motives for a variety of reasons… Suffices to say I’m not buying the media’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder spin. At first blush the circumstantial evidence appears to in very disturbing direction, and it raises a number of questions that need to be answered, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to start jumping to conclusions about Hasan’s motives based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Lets give investigators time do their jobs, I’m sure they’re have answers to all our questions in do course.

Related

• Gunman kills 12 in shooting rampage at Fort Hood base – Reuters
• Local psychiatrist ID’d as Fort Hood gunman worked at Walter Reed – Washington Examiner
• Fort Hood: The largest “Terror act” since 9/11 – Counter terrorism Blog

Previous

• Breaking: 12 Dead, 31 Wounded in Shooting at Fort Hood

Twelve people were killed and at least 31 were wounded when a soldier went on a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood U.S. Army base at Fort Hood Texas on Thursday, base commander Lieutenant-General Bob Cone said.

Cone told reporters at the base that the gunman was killed in the attack at the facility, the biggest military base in the world and a prime point of deployment for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two other soldiers were apprehended as suspects.

Cone said the shooting took place at a “Soldier Readiness Facility” where soldiers preparing for overseas deployment were getting last-minute medical checkups. The shooting took place at about 1:30 p.m. CST.

“The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. We since then have apprehended two additional soldiers that are suspects. There were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter,” Cone said .

ABC News is reporting the shooter has been identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a convert to Islam:

The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.

The gunman reportedly used two handguns.

Update (6:15 p.m.): CBS News is reporting that Maj. Hasan, 39, was a a licensed psychiatrist from Silver Spring, Md. He was apparently scheduled to deploy to Iraq and was upset about it.

Update (6:50 p.m.): The Austin American-Statesman is reporting that the two suspects arrested shortly after the shooting have apparently been  released. The Statesman also points to an AP report questioning what Hasan’s religion was or whether he was a convert.

Update ( 7:30 p.m.): The guys over at This ain’t Hell have some how gotten their hands on a copy of Hasan’s ORB… Contrary to media reports he’s never been deployed overseas. I guess that blows the PTSD theory out of the water…

Additional updates here…

Related

• Army: 12 dead, 31 hurt in attacks at Fort Hood – Associated Press
• 12 dead Fort Hood shootings – United Press International

A gunman opened fire Monday at an army recruitment center in Little Rock, Ark., killing one army recruiter and seriously wounding another, FOX16.com reported.

A man in a black SUV drove to the recruitment office and began shooting at around 10:19 a.m., a spokesman with the Little Rock police department told FOX News.

Police reportedly have a suspect in custody.

Jonn Lilyea has more at This Ain’t Hell.

Update (Tuesday, June 2, 2009):

The shooter has been identified as 23 year old Carlos Bledsoe (A.K.A. Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad) a Muslim convert with a grudge against the U.S. military. Bledsoe plead not guilt to capital murder at his arraignment today:

A Muslim convert who said he was against the U.S. military pleaded not guilty Tuesday to capital murder in connection with the shooting of two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting center.

One soldier died in the attack Monday, police said.

Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, was ordered held without bail at a hearing Tuesday in Little Rock. He is charged in the death of Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, outside the Army Navy Career Center in Little Rock.

“This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular, and that’s why he did what he did,” Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said.

“He has converted to (Islam) here in the past few years,” Hastings said. “We’re not completely clear on what he was upset about. He had never been in the military.

“He saw them standing there and drove up and shot them. That’s what he said.”