Turkish authorities have granted Smoke the donkey, the former mascot for 1st Marine Logistics Group in Iraq, permission to enter Turkey at the Habur Gate checkpoint in northern Iraq. Smoke’s former guardian, Col. John Folsom, has been fighting to bring Smoke home since October, but has run into one problem after another. First, he had to convince an Iraqi sheik to lower the $30,000 price tag arbitrarily put on the donkey. Then Smoke had to be wrangled and sent to Arbil from Fallujah. Finally, Folsom and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International had to lobby Turkish officials to…
Browsing: Animals
It has been a few weeks since we’ve posted a good Bored Marine Video to kick the weekend off the right way. Why not start now? Up this week: one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen all month. Our intrepid Marine hero decides to make good on a promise to eat a freakishly large moth. And by “freakishly large,” I mean, “beefy enough to roast on a spit.” The humanity! It’s still squirming! A slight warning: the video has a little bit of salty language, as you might expect when something like this happens. Really, though, the Marines here…
As I’ve touched on before, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent visited several Marine commands in Europe last week, including one in Naval Station Rota, Spain. That would be home to the headquarters of Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Europe, better known as one of the Corps’ FAST companies. And like many Marine commands, the unit has its very own mascot: Cpl. Monster. An ornery, but lovable English bulldog, Monster has lived at the FAST headquarters at Rota for years. I met him while Kent received a classified brief on FAST Company’s operations. As you can tell from the photograph above, Monster…
With Christmas upon us, staffing at Marine Corps Times is a bit thin right now, and it’ll grow even thinner over the next few days. That means it’s more than time to extend good wishes to all of our readers during the holidays. Posting on this site may be a bit thin here for about a week, but we wish each and every one of you well. Happy Holidays!
Sometimes, Battle Rattle aims to take on big-time issues. We cover the hardships that grunts face downrange, for example, or we offer a tip of the cap to heroes no longer with us. This is not one of those blog entries. Nope, this time I simply want to say the following: Dude, that’s a pretty cool photo of a Marine and a camel.
Times were tense before the initial February assault on Marjah, Afghanistan. A narcotics hub and Taliban stronghold, it was expected to be booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices and filled with insurgents waiting for a fight. Obviously, the Corps took control of Marjah within days. It’s still a dangerous place, but one where Marine officials say they see hope, at least. Before the assault, Gunnery Sgt. Brian Walgren, the company gunny for Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, fired up his troops with a gritty, heartfelt speech. In many ways, it shows the best of the Corps. Occasionally profane but filled…
Meet Taker, a black labrador retriever with 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. The Marine Corps released this image Monday as part of a series showing the work done by Dental Detachment, Charlie Surgical Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 15 at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. Taker was in for a root canal, the Corps said. And since everyone loves a good dog photo, why not share it here?
KABUL, Afghanistan — The slower pace of things here in the last few days have given me a chance to reflect on some of the more unexpected things that I’ve seen in the last six weeks while reporting from the southern half of this country. One of those things is just how prevalent animals are — and how differently they are treated than in the U.S. Marines on patrol regularly pass sheep, goats and cattle grazing through the area. When we were in Marjah with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, several things caught me off-guard. Some were sad, while others were…
PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — So there I was, relaxing in my tent here after going outside the wire with Marines on a three-hour evening patrol of Marjah. There was a squeak in the corner, and I saw movement along the wall. What was it? Upon closer inspect, the fine specimen you see above. Landlocked country or not, Afghanistan apparently has a population of crabs. I’ll assume they usually hang out near the canals, because that’s the only body of water within miles. Marines, apparently, are used to the spiky little guys. One member of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, said…
