Motorcycle Crash Claimed Life of Navy Corpsman

Man killed in Camp Lejeune crash identified as Navy corpsman

Jacksonville Daily News

Amanda Thames

June 29, 2017

Camp Lejeune has identified the man killed in a one-vehicle motorcycle crash on base this week.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Sean Youngwelch, 29, of Buffalo, New York died in a motorcycle crash Tuesday, said First Lt. Eric Abrams with the base’s public affairs office, but the details of the crash itself remain few.

“The specifics of the situation are still pending investigation,” Abrams said.

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Camp Lejeune Marines Fighting Back With Paintbrush

‘They’re fighting back with the paintbrush now’: Therapy art made by Marines on display
News and Observer
BY SAM KILLENBERG
June 23, 2017

“It’s very therapeutic for them. They’re fighting back with the paintbrush now. They put the gun down, and they’re picking up the paintbrush.”Craig Bone

One of the paintings on display at the N.C. Museum of History exhibit featuring art made by Camp Lejeune Marines to help them recover from the physical and emotional scars of war. The exhibit, “Healing the Warrior’s Heart through Art,” is sponsored by the American Red Cross. Courtesy N.C. Museum of History

A lone Marine wades through chest-deep water, his gun held over his head. A helicopter kicks up dust as it takes off next to a burning building. Two Marines drag a bleeding companion up a sandy hill as a Medevac helicopter approaches.

Those images and others go on display at the N.C. Museum of History on Sunday as part of an exhibit of paintings and sculptures produced by Camp Lejeune Marines as a means of recovering from their physical and emotional scars.

The exhibit, “Healing the Warrior’s Heart through Art,” is sponsored by the American Red Cross, which directed the art therapy program. It features more than 20 paintings depicting military scenes, as well as written and video testimonials from the Marines who participated in an art therapy program at the Wounded Warrior Battalion-East based at Lejeune.

The program is led by Craig Bone, a noted wildlife artist who has worked with military personnel for eight years.

“This is how I thank them for their service – with a paintbrush,” Bone said.
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Marine is Semifinalist in Ms Veteran America

Woman Beyond the Uniform: DeLand nurse competes for Ms. Veteran America title
Daytona Beach News Journal
By Linda Weaver / Correspondent
May 9, 2017

“It’s about supporting our sisters in arms and the women in homeless situations. This competition hits close to home for me. It’s very important to me because of that.” Traci Walker

Traci Walker, 29, is a registered nurse at Florida Hospital DeLand. On her off hours she does her part to help homeless women veterans and their children.

Walker, who is a U.S. Marine veteran, is a semifinalist in the Ms. Veteran America 2017. The competition showcases “The Woman Beyond the Uniform” and highlights the strength, courage and sacrifice of the military women, while focusing on the fact that the women are also mothers, daughters, sisters and wives.

Proceeds from the event will be used to provide housing for homeless women veterans and their children through Final Salute, Inc.

Walker served for four years as a field radio operator in Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, including one year in Iraq.

She felt the frustration and challenge of returning home after spending time in the military.
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VA Lists Disabilities for Camp Lejeune Marines-Families

VA’s rule establishes presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in water supply at Camp Lejeune 

VA to provide disability benefits for related diseases

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) regulations to establish presumptions for the service connection of eight diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, are effective as of today.

“Establishing these presumptions is a demonstration of our commitment to care for those who have served our nation and have been exposed to harm as a result of that service,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. David J. Shulkin. “The Camp Lejeune presumptions will make it easier for those Veterans to receive the care and benefits they earned.”

The presumption of service connection applies to active-duty, reserve and National Guard members who served at Camp Lejeune for a minimum of 30 days (cumulative) between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987, and are diagnosed with any of the following conditions:

Adult leukemia

Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes

Bladder cancer

Kidney cancer

Liver cancer

Multiple myeloma

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Parkinson’s disease

The area included in this presumption is all of Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River, including satellite camps and housing areas.

This presumption complements the health care already provided for 15 illnesses or conditions as part of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. The Camp Lejeune Act requires VA to provide health care to Veterans who served at Camp Lejeune, and to reimburse family members or pay providers for medical expenses for those who resided there for not fewer than 30 days between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987.

Camp Lejeune Marine Families Finally Getting Some Justice

VA News Release
VA's Rule Establishes a Presumption of Service Connection for Diseases Associated with Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune
01/13/2017

VA’s Rule Establishes a Presumption of Service Connection for Diseases Associated with Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune

VA to provide disability benefits for related diseases

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has published regulations to establish presumptions for the service connection of eight diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The presumption of service connection applies to active duty, reserve and National Guard members who served at Camp Lejeune for a minimum of 30 days (cumulative) between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987, and are diagnosed with any of the following conditions:

• adult leukemia

• aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes

• bladder cancer

• kidney cancer

• liver cancer

• multiple myeloma

• non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

• Parkinson’s disease

“We have a responsibility to take care of those who have served our Nation and have been exposed to harm as a result of that service,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald. “Establishing a presumption for service at Camp Lejeune will make it easier for those Veterans to receive the care and benefits they earned.”

Environmental health experts in VA’s Technical Workgroup conducted comprehensive reviews of scientific evidence, which included analysis and research done by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Environmental Protection Agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program, and the National Academies of Science.

Veterans with 30 or more cumulative days of active duty service, at Camp Lejeune during the contamination period are already eligible for certain medical benefits, following passage of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012.

In the early 1980s, volatile organic compounds, trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser, and perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning agent, as well as benzene and vinyl chloride, were discovered in two on-base water supply systems at Camp Lejeune. The contaminated wells supplying the water systems were shut down in February 1985.

The area included in this presumption is all of Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River, including satellite camps and housing areas.

The rule will be effective either 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, or following conclusion of the 60-day Congressional Review, whichever is later.

Camp Lejeune Marine Dying For Promised Care Delivery

Sick Marine still waits for the help he was promised
KOMO News
by Tracy Vedder
December 15th 2016

George's scleroderma is one of 15 diseases the Veterans' Administration determined could have been caused by contaminated drinking water at Marine base Camp LeJeune. And Congress passed a law in 2012 so anyone who served there between 1953 and 1987, and who has one of those diseases, is automatically eligible for VA health care.

SEATTLE -- In spite of a personal promise from the secretary of veterans affairs to examine his claim, a local Marine Corps veteran with a fatal disease still waits for help

In October the KOMO Investigators asked Secretary Robert McDonald about Spike George. He's battling a disease the VA already determined is service related. But not only is the VA not paying him disability, it's also stopped answering any calls or questions about his case.

Spike George can't wait much longer. He suffers from scleroderma. It's a progressive disease that makes it difficult to breathe and impossible to eat. He's so weak he can't really walk anymore. George has been in and out of the hospital for successive surgeries and bouts of pneumonia this past year. We had to ask him to drop his normally stoic demeanor to tell us how he's really doing. George admits, the reality is harsh. "There's times that I think how long? How long do I have to put up with this? How long am I going to be here ... suffering?"
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Florida Marine's Widow Forced to Fight VA After Camp Lejeune

8 INVESTIGATES: Camp Lejeune widow keeps fighting V.A. for her husband and benefits
WFLA 8 News
By Steve Andrews
Published: October 27, 2016

“I’ve lost my husband, I’ve lost my home, I will not lose my dignity.” Tara Craver

AVON PARK, Fla. (WFLA) — Tara Craver of Avon Park is becoming a familiar site at busy intersections outside V.A. facilities. She protests what she believes is unfair V.A. treatment of marines and their families.

“They killed my husband,” said Tara.

Her husband Karle was a marine, stationed at Camp Lejeune in the 70’s. His is one of the many faces of Camp Lejeune, the site of one of the largest mass contaminations in American history. From 1953 to 1987, an estimated 750,000 marines, their families as well as base employees were exposed to cancer causing chemicals in their drinking water.

“They didn’t contaminate themselves, the government did and they kept it hid for two or three decades. They kept it hid,” added Tara.

Doctors diagnosed Karle with esophageal cancer in January 2014. He died 10 weeks later.

Karle passed well before Tara heard that the V.A. rejected his claim that his cancer was connected to Camp Lejeune.
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Camp Lejeune Marine Reservist Murder-Suicide Investigation

Brother: Man who killed girlfriend, self 'a good person'
Gaston Gazette
By Adam Lawson
October 26, 2016

As a reservist, Walker was promoted to sergeant with Company F, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division at Camp Lejeune on Oct. 1. Marine Corps Maj. Andrew Aranda, spokesman for the Marine Corps Reserve, listed his job as tank crewman.

The brother of a Gastonia man who detectives say strangled his estranged girlfriend to death and then killed himself Monday wants to know why things spiraled out of control.

Tyrone Walker knew his baby brother, Justin Hakeem Walker, and Rebecca Jones had "been going through a little something." But he didn't foresee it ending in two deaths. Justin Walker had just proposed to her on Christmas, and the two once planned on getting married at a church in April, according to an online wedding registry.

According to the registry, the two met in September 2011 and had been "together ever since."

Tyrone Walker wants to know what was going through his brother's head at the time, what he was thinking, what could make him end two lives. Police can't answer those questions, Tyrone Walker said.

"I really don't got nothing to ask the police," he said. "There's nothing they can solve. Nobody can know what was going on with both of them. Not nobody knows the motive that really happened."
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Survivors of Beirut Bombing Remember Marines Lost

33 years after Beirut bombing, a survivor remembers
WNCT News 9
By Elizabeth Tew
Published: October 21, 2016

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (WNCT) – The 33rd anniversary of the 1983 Beirut bomb blast is this weekend and in Camp Lejeune it’s a date that hits close to home. Many of the bombing victims were deployed from Lejeune, including retired Marine Dan Joy, who survived the harrowing experience.

“We were sent to Lebanon as peacekeepers to assist the United Nations forces,” Joy said. “We became enemy combatants because different factions thought we were taking sides.”

Joy was a member of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Early on October 23, 1983, the battalion’s headquarters building was bombed.

“They built car bombs and drove one into our headquarters,” Joy said. “There was rubble and remains of our Marines and soldiers. Marines were just lifting concrete and using crow bars and trying to get to the voices.”

On Sunday, an observance will be held here at the Beirut Memorial in Jacksonville to those men.
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Why Are Marine Veterans Forced To Fight Government After Camp Lejeune?

Marine’s toughest fight: getting compensated for exposure to Camp Lejeune’s toxic water
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
By KEITH ROGERS
August 20, 2106

Between 1952 and 1987, nearly 1 million Marines, sailors, civilian employees and military family members unknowingly drank, cooked with and bathed in contaminated water while living or working at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

There’s no doubt in Stanley Furrow’s mind that his health problems and those of his wife, children and grandson come from drinking contaminated water and bathing in it years ago when he served in the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

CHEMICALS IN THE WATER

They all have classic symptoms, according to the EPA, of people who have consumed water tainted with a witch’s brew of benzene, solvents and compounds with long names such as perchloroethylene, trichlorethylene and vinyl chloride. That is what was leaking into the camp’s water supply when Furrow, a Vietnam War vet, and his wife, Linda, lived there in the early 1970s.

He blames his exposure for the migraine headaches and neurological maladies he’s suffered from for years.

They believe it also explains why Linda had miscarriages; their son was born with only three fingers on his left hand; their daughter has battled cysts and tumors on her head all her life; and their 13-year-old grandson, Joseph, was born with twisted legs.

Jolie Furrow: “I just think it’s crazy. Why would you treat someone who served their country this way?” read more here

Marine Survived 4 Tours, Killed by Hit and Run Driver

Marine drill instructor killed in hit and run near Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps Times
Jeff Schogol
July 26, 2016

During his 11 years in the Marine Corps, Tooley deployed four times: twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan.

Police are looking for the driver of a car that hit and killed Marine Sgt. Michael Andrew Tooley earlier this month in North Carolina.

Marine Sgt. Michael Andrew Tooley was killed on July 16.

(Photo: Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.)

Tooley, 28, was a combat engineer whose duty at the time of his death was as a drill instructor with the support battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, said Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Matthew Finnerty.

Tooley's commander, Lt. Col. Tracy Perry, said "the loss of any Marine under any circumstance is a tragedy, especially in this situation."

"We offer our deepest condolences to the family of Sgt. Tooley,” Perry said. “He was a stellar Marine and will be remembered for his dedication to the Corps and the men and women he served with, as well as those he transformed into the future generation of Marines."
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Danvers Marine Honored For Taking Action on Dilapidated Barracks

Danvers Marine to be honored on Capitol Hill
Wicked Local Danvers
By Jeff Pope
Posted Jul. 11, 2016

Downing, a platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., found that the Marines were living in dilapidated barracks. According to an article in the Military Times, Downing figured out how to get materials needed to renovate 90 barracks rooms, common areas and duty posts at Camp Lejeune. He collected appliances and furniture from barracks that were being shut down.

Gunnery Sgt. Brian Downing was named
the Marine Corps Times Service
Member of the Year.Courtesy photo

DANVERS
Gunnery Sgt. Brian Downing of Danvers will be honored as the Marine Corps Times Service Member of the Year at a gala on Capitol Hill Thursday evening.

Downing, a 2001 graduate of Danvers High School, has served four tours of duty overseas, including two to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, but is being honored for what he did to help other Marines here at home.

“I was really stunned when I read the article (in the Military Times) about him, because he kind of keeps it close to the chest,” said Downing’s twin sister, Jennifer Corbin, of Danvers. “I knew about some of the stuff that he had done abroad on his deployments.”
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Camp Lejeune Marine Veteran Fights Toxic Exposure and VA

Desperately ill Marine veteran finally gets some good news
KOMO News
BY TRACY VEDDER
JUNE 21ST 2016

SEATTLE -- The KOMO Investigators are getting results for a local veteran who is desperately ill.

Spike George developed a terminal illness after drinking contaminated water at a Marine Corps base. After being denied benefits numerous times, George is now resting easier knowing at least the bill for his current month-long hospital stay will be covered.

George is in the last stages of systemic scleroderma. It's a disease that attacks the body from the inside out; in George's case hardening his skin and his internal organs. As of June 21st, he weighs just 107 pounds. Still he feels better than when KOMO news first interviewed him more than a month ago.
read more here

Do reporters ever check facts?

"But last year, the VA denied George's health care benefits, saying he made too much money working as a King County Corrections Officer."

A "service connected disability" will cover what is related to the disability after the VA ties service to the disability. For veteran with 100%, everything they need is covered. Making too much money only applies when the veteran has no "approved" claim and is seeking free care.

His claim should have been approved a long time ago considering matching his service record to exposures would be easy to do.

Priority Group 7
Veterans with gross household income below the geographically-adjusted income limits (GMT) for their resident location and who agree to pay copays

Priority Group 8
Veterans with gross household income above the VA and the geographically-adjusted income limits for their resident location and who agrees to pay copays

Here are the other group listings from the VA 

Priority Group 1

Veterans with VA-rated service-connected disabilities 50% or more disabling Veterans determined by VA to be unemployable due to service-connected conditions

Priority Group 2

Veterans with VA-rated service-connected disabilities 30% or 40% disabling

Priority Group 3

Veterans who are Former Prisoners of War (POWs) Veterans awarded a Purple Heart medal Veterans whose discharge was for a disability that was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty Veterans with VA-rated service-connected disabilities 10% or 20% disabling Veterans awarded special eligibility classification under Title 38, U.S.C., § 1151, "benefits for individuals disabled by treatment or vocational rehabilitation" Veterans awarded the Medal Of Honor (MOH)

Priority Group 4

Veterans who are receiving aid and attendance or housebound benefits from VA Veterans who have been determined by VA to be catastrophically disabled

Priority Group 5

Nonservice-connected Veterans and noncompensable service-connected Veterans rated 0% disabled by VA with annual income below the VA’s and geographically (based on your resident zip code) adjusted income limits Veterans receiving VA pension benefits Veterans eligible for Medicaid programs

Priority Group 6

Compensable 0% service-connected Veterans Veterans exposed to Ionizing Radiation during atmospheric testing or during the occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Project 112/SHAD participants

Veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam between January 9,1962 and May 7,1975 Veterans of the Persian Gulf War who served between August 2, 1990 and November 11, 1998 *Veterans who served on active duty at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987 Veterans who served in a theater of combat operations after November 11, 1998 as follows: Currently enrolled Veterans and new enrollees who were discharged from active duty on or after January 28, 2003, are eligible for the enhanced benefits for five years post discharge. **Combat Veterans who were discharged between January 2009 and January 2011, and did not enroll in the VA health care during their five-year period of eligibility have an additional one year to enroll and receive care. The additional one-year eligibility period began February 12, 2015 with the signing of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for America Veterans Act.

News Investigation Gets Justice for Camp Lejeune Marine

TV news investigation prompts action on Camp Lejeune poison water VA claim
WJHL News
By Mark Douglas
Published: June 2, 2016

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Bob Miranda-Boulay says he suffers from 16 medical conditions brought about by toxic water he drank at Camp Lejeune while training as a recruit in the Marine reserves 21 years ago.

Now, after three years of waiting and medical claim denials by the VA Boulay has a glimmer of hope, thanks to an 8 on Your Side investigation that caught the attention of VA claims managers in Louisville, Kentucky. They arranged for a Skype hearing at the VA Service Center at Bay Pines Friday. “If it wasn’t for you doing the story I wouldn’t be here today,” said Boulay after the hearing.

Boulay’s attorneys say out of the blue they received a call from a VA hearing officer about a week after we reported on Boulay’s inability to get assistance from the VA. The story had been re-broadcast by other Media General TV stations and was linked on a number of websites catering to veterans.
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Camp Lejeune Marine Reservist "I Don't Count"

‘I don’t count’ – Camp Lejeune Marine reservist suffering after exposure to tainted water
News Channel 8
Investigative Reporter Mark Douglas
Published: May 9, 2016

Boulay wore the same uniform, crawled through the same mud and drank the same tainted water at Camp Lejeune as regular Marines, but doesn’t qualify for any benefits under the Camp Lejeune Family Act of 2012 because he was a Marine Reservist who was never called up for active duty.

“I don’t count,” Boulay said.

(WFLA) – Like thousands of other former Marines who served at Camp Lejeune Bob Miranda-Boulay suffers a long list of serious and life-threatening illnesses that he attributes to the toxic water that tainted wells at that training base in North Carolina over a period of 34 years.
“This was the Marine Corps that did this to us,” Boulay said.

Boulay insists he enlisted out of patriotism, but now feels betrayed by the Corps.

“I wanted to make a difference,” Bouley said. “I love my country and I wanted to do the right thing. I wanted to be a Marine.”

Boulay says he was an amateur boxer in perfect health prior to his two months of infantry training at Camp Lejeune. About 30 years later he now suffers from liver and kidney disease and has survived a brain tumor. He takes a dozen medications to make it through the day and activated a pacemaker at bedtime to keep from dying in his sleep.

For years Boulay’s various maladies puzzled doctors who at one point chalked up his troubles to Lyme Disease. Now, Boulay’s doctor attributes his medical ills to the chemical-laced drinking water he consumed during training at Lejeune.

“Eventually like my doctor says I’m going lose the battle,” Boulay said. I’m only going hold it off so long.”

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Camp Lejeune Marine Spent Mother's Day Grieving For Mom, Savannah's 22 Homicide Victim of 2016

Family, neighbors mourn loss of Savannah mother of 2 shot, killed on Ash Street
Savannah Morning News
Will Peebles
May 8, 2016

Tyler Schmidt traveled from Camp Lejeune, N.C., to Savannah on Sunday. As an active-duty Marine, Schmidt’s work schedule would have prevented him from having time to visit Savannah for Mother’s Day, but he was granted leave given the grave circumstances.

Kathy Henry and her son Tyler Schmidt fish from a boat in coastal Savannah.

(Photo courtesy Richard Schmidt)

Sunday was a solemn Mother’s Day for Tyler Schmidt, the son of a 43-year-old Savannah woman who was found shot and lying in the street Saturday night — the latest victim of gun violence in the city.

“She’s a loving person,” said Tyler’s father, Richard Schmidt, about his ex-wife, Kathy Henry. Police found Henry about 8:45 p.m. on Ash Street, according to Eunicia Baker, police spokeswoman, only a few blocks from her father’s home.

Henry was taken to Memorial University Medical Center, where she died, Baker said.

“She’s never hurt anyone intentionally,” Richard Schmidt said. “If it was over money, she would’ve given them money. She would’ve given them anything they asked for. We’re still numb and in shock that something like this could happen.”

Henry’s death is the 22nd homicide in Savannah in 2016 — nearly twice the number of killings recorded by this time last year. She was shot and killed on the same day of the funeral of Hannah Brown, a mother of five, who died April 28.
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Marine Pilot in Stable Condition After Harrier Jet Crash

Marine Corps Harrier jet crashes off Wrightsville Beach
StarNews Staff
Published: Friday, May 6, 2016

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH -- A Marine Corps Harrier jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean late Friday afternoon, prompting an ocean rescue of its pilot.

Town Manager Tim Owens confirmed the crash, saying the plane ended up in the water about a mile-and-a-half offshore.

A spokesman from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point said the pilot was from Marine Attack Squadron 542.

"We can confirm that a pilot with Marine Attack Squadron 542, Marine Aircraft Group 14, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing ejected from an AV-8B Harrier at approximately 5:05 p.m. off the coast of Wilmington, N.C.," said Marine Lt. Maida Zheng.

According to Zheng, the pilot was rescued by an H-60 Seahawk helicopter at about 5:28 p.m. The pilot, who has not been identified, is in stable condition at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune.
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Camp Lejeune Ret. Marine Received Silver Star

MARINE AWARDED SILVER STAR FOR HEROIC ACTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN
Marines.mil
By Sgt. Kirstin Merrimarahajara, II Marine Expeditionary Force
March 21, 2016

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina -- Sgt. Matthew S. Parker (ret.), received a Silver Star medal on base March 18, 2016.

Marine awarded Silver Star for heroic actions in Afghanistan Sgt. Matthew Parker (ret.) speaks to a group of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment Marines during his Silver Star ceremony at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, March 18, 2016. Parker was awarded the Silver Star for his courageous actions during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2011, where assumed control of his platoon during a firefight after several leaders had been injured.

The Silver Star is the third highest military combat decoration and was awarded to Parker for his bravery and composure during an attack in Afghanistan on May 21, 2011, while he was deployed as a rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment during Operation Enduring Freedom. Parker courageously assumed control as the ground force commander after several leaders had been injured, called in fire support and evacuated casualties.

The award was presented by Maj. Gen. Brian Beaudreault, commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, who expressed his appreciation for what Parker did that day.

“You represented everything we want to teach in honor, courage, commitment and the warrior’s ethos… and for that I’m greatly indebted to you,” Beaudreault said. “You did everything we would want and hope for every Marine NCO leading a formation to do.”
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Marine Killed In Rocket Attack Was From California

Marine killed in rocket attack identified; Detachment sent to Iraq
Stars and Stripes
Chris Church
March 20, 2016

MANAMA, Bahrain — The Marine killed in a rocket attack in Iraq Saturday was assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which has deployed a detachment to Iraq, defense officials said Sunday.

Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, of Temecula, Calif., was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th MEU out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Pentagon said in a statement.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State announced Sunday that a detachment from the 26th MEU had been deployed to Iraq for "the support of Iraqi security force and coalition ground operations."
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Afghanistan Veteran Marine to Receive Silver Star

Controversial Marine Corps unit recognizes a war hero
Marine Corps Times
Gina Harkins
March 14, 2016

Matthew Parker, a former squad leader with

India Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines
will receive the Silver Star on March 18.

(Photo: Pvt. Brian M. Woodruff/Marine Corps)

A Marine infantry battalion that was embroiled in a war-zone scandal will present a former squad leader with the nation's third-highest valor award this week — nearly five years after he led his comrades out of an intense firefight in Afghanistan.

Former Sgt. Matthew Parker, who served as a squad leader with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, during the unit's 2011 deployment to Afghanistan, will be presented with the Silver Star on Friday during a ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Marine Corps Times has learned.

Parker is being recognized for stepping up to lead his platoon when his commander and another squad leader were injured in an attack while operating in Helmand province's Musa Qala district, according to his award citation.
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