Camp Lejeune Marine Killed in Afghanistan Identified

Photo / Houston Hockey Insider

By Alicia Cruz

The Black Urban Times

The Department of Defense has released the identity of a Marine killed in Afghanistan.
Garrett W. Gamble, 20, a Lance Corporal stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina died Thursday in Helmand Province.

At this time, there are no specific details surrounding the Marine's death.

LCpl. Gamble is the older brother of ISHL Austin team player, Cody Gamble.

A moment of silence will be held at tonight’s ISHL championship game in honor of LCpl. Gamble. He was attached to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

LCpl. Gamble leaves his father Troy, Mother Michelle and brothers Cody and Gunner to mourn his passing.

Hero, Family Friend, Marine:
R.I.P. LCpl. Gamble

In this news and observer photo, LCpl Gamble is pictured with fellow Marine, Cpl Jeffrey De Young, of Holland, Michigan as they watch an Afghan man walk past them.

The two Marines had just began their day of patrol outside the wire at FOB Hassanabad. LCpl Gamble was killed Thursday in the Helmand Province.

Our Brother The Marine

by Omie Johnson
My brother LCpl. Leon Deraps was killed in action on May 6th 2006, in Iraq. He was 19 years old. He was a baby of 6. I would like to see if you would put the poem I wrote to him when he was home for Christmas in your Newsletter. Take care!~Omie Johnson"In loving memory of LCpl. Leon Deraps ~ beloved brother & hero"

Our Brother The Marine

Our brother the Marine

~is one of the toughest we’ve seen He is off to travel far & wide ~& we pray that God stays by his side The things he’ll see & the things he’ll do ~Is all to protect me & you He’s serving our country in a time of trouble & doubt ~

We gave him some gadgets to make sure he is not without A second generation Marine- we know he has a tough act to follow ~

So the words courage & honor will never be hollow

Our debt of gratitude for his service to our nation~Is one that will be never be taken~ lightly or with out thought or prayer for we know he is the one who is there~ on the front lines so we can stay safe & sound

for a family who loves him more could never be found So here’s to our brother the Marine ~Who is one of the toughest we’ve seen May God bless him & keep him safe from harm~Until we once again can hold him in our arms! Leon, I could not be more proud to call you my brother.

I loveYou & we will pray for you.

Stay strong & safe!

Love, Omie

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Marines Rough it in Afghanistan

CHUCK LIDDY - cliddy@newsobserver.com

Lance Cpl. Trevor Jones, a Marine from Douglasville, Ga., douses himself with cold water at an outpost in Afghanistan. For Marines at forward operating bases like this one, conditions are primitive.

BY CHUCK LIDDY - STAFF WRITER

Helmand Province, Afghanistan -- It's not even officially winter here at FOB Hassanabad, yet temperatures routinely fall below freezing at night.

The tents that house young Marines have no heat. The only water jets from a 3-inch-wide hose. It's cold. There is no hot water.

There are sun bags that can warm water to a tolerable temperature, but they're used outside in a small wooden enclosure where the wind can wreak havoc on the bathing experience. Some of the men go for a couple of weeks without a real bath, using cloth sanitary wipes. Many just use the cold water from the hose and get clean as fast as possible without succumbing to uncontrollable shivering.

Meals come in a box. And after a few days, they all taste the same.

Mice are everywhere.

The camp is nirvana for thousands of field mice from the cornfields surrounding the camp.

The men have adopted several kittens, who crave the attention and the mice.

But the Marines of Golf Company are young. Most shrug their shoulders at the austere conditions and say they don't like spending much time in the base camp anyway - they'd rather be out on patrol chasing the bad guys.

Marine Moms Plea Nets Form Letter Response From Obama

BY Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

7 months after letter, mom of murdered Marine Sgt. Pietrzak gets form response from Obama aide

Seven months after she poured out her heartbreak in a wrenching letter to then President-elect Obama, the mother of murdered Brooklyn Marine Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak finally got a response - a form letter.
"Thank you for contacting President Obama," the note to Henryka Pietrzak-Varga begins. "We hope the issue you brought to the President's attention has been resolved."
Pietrzak-Varga, whose son and daughter-in-law were tortured and murdered last year allegedly by four other Marines, told a Polish newspaper she doubts Obama saw her letter.
"This is a standard response, something that can be sent out to anyone for any matter," the disappointed mom told the Dziennik Wschodni newspaper.
"What am I supposed to make of, 'We hope the issue has been resolved?' What does this mean? That somebody will give me my son back?"
The June 19 letter from White House aide F. Michael Kelleher arrived amid pre-trial hearings of the accused Marines, all of whom have pleaded not guilty to robbing and killing the sergeant and his wife, Quiana, in October 2008.
The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.
Prosecutors insist the Pietrzaks were slain for their money, but a homicide investigator has testified the Marines spray-painted racist remarks in the couples' California home.
Polish-born Pietrzak, 24, was white and raised in Bensonhurst. His 26-year-old wife was black. So are the charged Marines.
In her November 2008 letter to Obama, Pietrzak-Varga opened with the words: "Dear President-elect Barack Obama, they killed my son."
Pietrzak-Varga then asked for help in getting to the bottom of the "bestial" murders.
"Death at war at the hands of an enemy is, for a soldier, a patriotic honor," she wrote in Polish. "The death of a soldier in his country and at the hands of his own soldiers ... is a source of endless suffering for his family."
Pietrzak-Varga went on to write that "My son's wife was raped in a bestial way, most likely as my son looked on helplessly."
"Why did this happen? What motivated them? What was it about my son and daughter-in-law that inspired such hatred and loathing?"
In his five-paragraph reply, Kelleher apologized for the delay in getting back to her and urged the Brooklyn mom to send an "updated description of your issue" if "you still need help with a Federal agency."

One of these mornings

In Memory of LCpl. Maria Lauterbach and Baby Boy Gabriel. It was a year ago that Maria and her baby went missing and were murdered. May they rest in peace. To follow the "One year later" story on Lauterbach and her alleged killer, Cpl. Cesar Laurean click this link:http://www.jdnews.com/news/maria_61102___article.html/investigation_lauterbach.html