What I am doing now? Well, That Changes Daily ~I am now the State of Indiana Women Veteran's Program Director~ I work for the Government! HA!
**Update** I am missin my Marine Family!!! I am now in remission, and have recently gotten a promotion! I now work for the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs as a State Service Officer & assisting the Director.... It is definitely amazing! I am very blessed to have the opportunity to do what I do. I am a disabled veteran, 80% service-connected as of right now. While on active duty in North Carolina, I broke both feet and my right pelvic bone ~ And was in a wheel chair for 18 1/2 mos. I am now walking, with cane assistance, but feel so very blessed to be home. There is not a morning I wake up that I dont wish I was back in the Corps. Giving to Veterans now, were I could no longer give in the Corps, is the ultimate for me! For me to have the chance to be a Marine and do what I had the opportunity to do, it took those Marines before me to set that path a blaze.... And to you all I am forever thankful. A 'Thank You' would never be enough... Semper Fi
VIETNAM : SGT Robert Davison of Muskegon, Michigan joined the marines at age 14 and died in Vietnam December 17th, 1966 at age 18. The last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after the evacuation of Saigon, in what became known as the Mayaguez incident. The youngest Vietnam KIA is believed to be Dan Bullock USMC, at 15 years old. DAN BULLOCK is honored on Panel 23W, Row 96 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. At least 5 men killed in Vietnam were 16 years old. At least 12 men killed in Vietnam were 17 years old.FATHER AND SON: Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. was killed June 08, 1956 his son Richard B. Fitzgibbon III was KIA September 07, 1965. Leo Hester Sr. Died March 10, 1967 in a aircraft crash his son Leo Hester Jr. was KIA November 02, 1969 also in a aircraft crash.
The Marines of Morenci
They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home. Robert Dale Draper, 19, was killed in an ambush. Stan King, 21, was killed less than a week after reaching Vietnam. Alfred Van Whitmer, 21, was killed while on patrol. Larry J. West, 19 was shot near Quang Nam. Jose Moncayo, 22, was part of an entire platoon wiped out. Clive Garcia, 22, was killed by a booby trap while leading a patrol. FOREVER REMEMBERED
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MCL Detachment; Wortman-Lowe Enduring Freedom Detachment #1263 Morristown, In.UPDATE: Thank you to all for your kind words of encouragement. I am definitely staying strong!! The Doc's have said that they have caught the cancer early... so I am hanging in there!! Thank you all for prayers and thoughts! Semper Fi!
What is a veteran? A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of - "up to, and including my life."That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.~Author unknown.The following Information I have found on TheWall-USA.Com. Here are a list of Marines on the Vietnam Buddie SystemSteven E. Amescua and Anthony J. Blevins joined the Marine Corp on the buddy plan. Steven was KIA May 15, 1968 and Anthony was KIA August 23, 1968.
John A. Jensen and Charles D. Turnbough were buddies who graduated from high school together and joined the Marines together. John was KIA August 27, 1967 and Charles was KIA three days later on August 30, 1967.
The picture below is the link to TheWall-USA.com!!!!
"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them.... Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...." Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces. We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you , one of the gentle heroes and patriots lost to the War in Vietnam: Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother. Thank you Marines for your Sacrifice and Valor. God Bless you all, I love you like brothers and sisters, and know you all are constantly in thoughts and prayers. Semper Fidelis, Ashley A. Roberts State Service Officer Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs 302 W. Washington Street; RM E120 Indianapolis, IN 46204-2738 O: 317/232-3921 asroberts@dva.in.gov
Karla Comfort received a lot of looks and even some salutes from people when she drove from Benton, Ark.,
to Camp Pendleton, Calif., in her newly-painted, custom Hummer H3 on March 2.
The vehicle is adorned with the likeness of her son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason,
and nine other Marines with F Company, 2n d Battalion, 7 th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
who where all killed by the same improvised explosive device blast in Fallujah, Iraq, in December..
For Karla Comfort, having the vehicle air brushed with the image of the 10 Marines was a way to pay homage to her hero and his fellow comrades who fell on Iraq's urban battlefield.
'I wanted to let people know (Marines) are doing their jobs honorably,and some of them die,' said the 39-year-old from Portland, OR.
'I don't want people to forget the sacrifices that my son and the other Marines made.'
Leading up to her son's death, Karla Comfort had received several letters from him prior to his return.
He had been deployed for five months, and Comfort 'worried everyday he was gone until she got the letters and found out the date he was coming home,' she said.
Marines knocked on the front door of her home in Farmington , Mich., at 3 am with the dreadful news.
'I let my guard down when I found out he was coming home,' she said.
'There are times that I still cannot believe it happened. It's very hard to deal with.'
Karla Comfort came up with the idea for the rolling memorial when she and her two other sons attended John's funeral in Portland, Ore.
'I saw a Vietnam (War) memorial on a car, and I said to my son Josh, 'we should do something like that for John,' she recalled. 'He loved Hummers.'
She purchased the vehicle in January and immediately took it to AirbrushGuy & Co. in Benton, Ark., where artist Robert Powell went to work on changing the plain, black vehicle into a decorative, mobile, art piece.
'I only had the vehicle for two days before we took it in,' she joked.
Two hundred and fifty man-hours later, Powell had completed the vehicle. The custom job would have cost $25,000. Out of respect for Karla Comfort's loss and the sacrifices the Marines made, AirbrushGuy & Co. did it for free. Comfort only had to purchase the paint, which cost $3,000.
'I love it,' she said.
'I'm really impressed with it, and I think John would be happy with the vehicle.
He would have a big smile on his face because he loved Hummers.'
Karla Comfort gave Powell basic instructions on what to include in the paint job.
But in addition to the image of her son in Dress Blues and the faces of the nine other Marines, there were several surprises. 'He put a lot more on than I expected,' she said. 'I think my favorite part is the heaven scene.'
On the left side of the vehicle, a detail of Marines are depicted carrying their fallen comrades through the clouds to their final resting place. The American flag drapes across the hood, the words, 'Semper Fi' crown the front windshield and the spare tire cover carries the same Eagle Globe and Anchor design that her son had tattooed on his back.
'All the support I have been getting is wonderful,' she said.
Karla Comfort decided to move back to her hometown of Portland, and making the cross-country trip from Arkansas was a way for her to share her son's story.
It's also her way of coping with the loss. 'Along the way I got nothing but positive feedback from people,' she said.
'What got to me was when people would salute the guys (Marines). It's hard to look at his picture. I still cry and try to get used to the idea, but it's hard to grasp the idea that he's really gone.'
**Update** I am missin my Marine Family!!! I am now in remission, and have recently gotten a promotion! I now work for the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs as a State Service Officer & assisting the Director.... It is definitely amazing! 
For me to have the chance to be a Marine and do what I had the opportunity to do, it took those Marines before me to set that path a blaze.... And to you all I am forever thankful. A 'Thank You' would never be enough... Semper Fi 
At least 5 men killed in Vietnam were 16 years old. At least 12 men killed in Vietnam were 17 years old. FATHER AND SON: Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. was killed June 08, 1956 his son Richard B. Fitzgibbon III was KIA September 07, 1965. Leo Hester Sr. Died March 10, 1967 in a aircraft crash his son Leo Hester Jr. was KIA November 02, 1969 also in a aircraft crash. 
The following Information I have found on TheWall-USA.Com. Here are a list of Marines on the Vietnam Buddie System Steven E. Amescua and Anthony J. Blevins joined the Marine Corp on the buddy plan. Steven was KIA May 15, 1968 and Anthony was KIA August 23, 1968. 
Thank you Marines for your Sacrifice and Valor. God Bless you all, I love you like brothers and sisters, and know you all are constantly in thoughts and prayers. Semper Fidelis, Ashley A. Roberts State Service Officer Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs 302 W. Washington Street; RM E120 Indianapolis, IN 46204-2738 O: 317/232-3921 asroberts@dva.in.gov 
