American Marine killed by ISIS in Iraq

By Lynn R. Mitchell

An American Marine was killed in Iraq on Saturday (see Marine killed, others injured in ISIS rocket attack in northern Iraq, official says):

An American Marine was killed and others seriously injured Saturday when a rocket fired by ISIS landed near his position in the town of Makhmur, 75 miles southeast of Mosul, a U.S. defense official told Fox News.

The official did not want to give the exact number of wounded but said the number is less than five. They were flown to a hospital away from the base, the official said.
…
There are roughly 3,700 US troops on the ground in Iraq advising the Iraqi Army. Earlier this month, a brigade from the 101st Airborne Division relieved a similar sized brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division.

The identity of the Marine has not been released but it is yet another reminder of the debt we owe our American military and their families. Freedom is not free.

’11 Bronze Stars, 14 Tours, 1 Widow’

                                                 Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The words by Michael Daly hit hard:

Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, the first American to die in Iraq against ISIS, is a reminder of those who have sacrificed in two wars that never really ended.

Fourteen combat deployments.

Eleven bronze stars, four with a V for valor.

Seventy hostages rescued in the final mission.

One flag covered coffin, to be met by one new widow.

Four sons now without a father, one a new baby.

One posthumous Purple Heart.

And 319 million Americans in perpetual debt to Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, 19 years-old at enlistment, 39 when he became the first American solider to die in Iraq since the war supposedly ended there.

Too many of us have acted as if we were not at war at all during these last 14 years. We all but forgot about those who were deployed again and again and again as we preoccupied ourselves with the likes of the Kardashians.

The Few. The Proud. The Marines.

By Lynn R. Mitchell

November 10, 1775. That was the birth date of the United States Marine Corps … 239 years of service to America … almost a year older than the United States of America herself. Today we honor all the men who have proudly served in this military branch including our own Daniel Cortez, one of the two military veterans who are contributors at LynnRMitchell.com.

New York Assemblyman, Fox News guest commentator, and Operation Iraqi Freedom Marine veteran Kieran Michael Lalor honored the USMC on this 239th birthday:

Bush was right, again … NYT reports chemical weapons WERE found during Operation Iraqi Freedom

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The bombshell front page news from the New York Times revealed Tuesday that chemical weapons were found in Iraq (see The Secret Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons by C. J. Chivers and  U.S. Intelligence Documents on Chemical Weapons Found in Iraq):

July 12, 2007: Pres. Bush’s Prophetic Iraq Warning

By Lynn R. Mitchell

President George W. Bush, June 12, 2007.