As we commemorate the anniversaries of Sept. Over four Sundays, the Orange County Register will tell the story of the more than 2 million troops who've fought in these wars. It marks 10 years of war: first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq – longer than any time in U.S. 28, 2011 10:29 a.m.īy DOUG IRVING / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERĮditor's note: We are approaching two 10-year anniversaries. Marines had just bloodied their way through the first Battle of Fallujah and insurgency within the country was beginning to expand as sectarian clashes divided the nation.ġ0 Years of War: Family life for the battle-tested Debiaks often means kisses blown to the ocean and birthdays on video. This is part one of a three part series.ĬAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan - The violence in Iraq was reaching its pinnacle in 2004 when Chris Taylor received his deployment orders to Al-Anbar province.

As the war in Afghanistan comes to an end, Marine leaders reflect on their service over the last decade and how combat has shaped them as leaders and as men. The realities of combat controlled and directed their growth, combining aptitude, instinct, and courage equally. Many of them are the progeny of conflict and survival, inflicted with the physical and psychological wounds of war.

Bobby Yarbrough | Regional Command Southwest | Date: ĮDITOR'S NOTE: The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq influenced most Marines before they could even comprehend it. Posted by sr at 11:17 AM | January 6, 2014 Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps.Ĭontinue reading 'West Palm Beach, Fla., native a Marine Corps drill instructor on Parris Island' » About 600 Marine Corps drill instructors shape the approximately 20,000 recruits who come to Parris Island annually into basic United States Marines. ' just knowing the fact that we are training civilians into the next Marine Corps leaders is pretty humbling,' said Dear, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla. Dear joined the Marine Corps in August 2005 and became a drill instructor in March 2013. Brian Dear currently serves as a Marine Corps drill instructor with Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. MaryAnn Hill | Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island | Date: I take hold of the other.Ĭontinue reading ' Anja Niedringhaus felt the need to bear witness' » The medevac crew chief clutches one of Britt's blood-covered hands as he is given oxygen. He and two other Marines have just been hit by shrapnel, with Britt's injuries the most serious. Burness Britt bleeds profusely from his neck. Inside the medevac helicopter in Afghanistan, U.S. This is what she wrote about it two days before Christmas 2011 - six months after the attack. One of her bosses said 'she truly believed in the need to bear witness.' In years of reporting from war zones, the story that most haunted her was one about a Marine who was grievously wounded by a IED in Afghanistan in June 2011. In 2005, she was part of the AP team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Iraq, and she was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation. Editor's note: Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an internationally acclaimed German photojournalist, was shot and killed by an Afghan police officer earlier this month while on assignment for the Associated Press.

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