# 29 Palms Marine to receive Navy Cross



## Ravage (Aug 19, 2009)

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/marine_navy_cross_081909w/

A junior Marine severely wounded during an ambush last year in Afghanistan’s Helmand province will receive the Navy Cross on Thursday at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., base officials said.

Lance Cpl. Richard S. Weinmaster, a squad automatic rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, will be presented the nation’s second-highest medal for combat valor during a morning ceremony, according to a news release. Weinmaster, 20, of Cozad, Neb., was a private first class assigned to Echo Company’s 3rd Platoon when his squad came under fire during a dismounted attack July 8, 2008, in Helmand’s Sangin District.

His other military awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal.







> Lance Cpl. Richard S. Weinmaster, a squad automatic rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, will be presented the nation’s second-highest medal for combat valor during a morning ceremony, according to a news release.








> Weinmaster's other military awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal.



Outstanding Marine !


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## ccford11 (Aug 20, 2009)

Semper Fi ! It's good to here the guys from 2/7 are getting recognized for actions in Afghanistan.


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## Marine0311 (Sep 30, 2009)

Semper Fi to a true Marine Warrior. A true warrior hero testament to the Corps

Get some!


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## car (Sep 30, 2009)

Hoo-rah!


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## Paddlefoot (Sep 30, 2009)

Fantastic.

The next generation has really stepped up. I don't think Bin Laden ever expected us to still be on their ass after 8 years.


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## AssadUSMC (Sep 30, 2009)

That's one hard-charging little dude... Semper fi.

Hell, every Marine that has to spend a tour at the Stumps deserves some kind of award.  You leave the Stumps thinking Iraq is a step up.


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## Paddlefoot (Sep 30, 2009)

I've never heard of it referred to as The Stumps?

What's the origin for the term?


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## AssadUSMC (Oct 1, 2009)

Show me some palms out there... hence the stumps. ;)


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## Viper1 (Oct 1, 2009)

There was an editorial in the Marine Times recently about how in an earlier era this CPL might have gotten the Medal of Honor.  Thoughts?


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## x SF med (Oct 1, 2009)

Hoo-Rah! Marine.

Outstanding.


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## AssadUSMC (Oct 1, 2009)

Viper1 said:


> There was an editorial in the Marine Times recently about how in an earlier era this CPL might have gotten the Medal of Honor.  Thoughts?



Only those who were there would know.  There was another editorial in the WSJ today about "dumbing down" the MOH.  I disagreed with the premise because the guy was basing it on politicians awarding it, when really the politicians were questioning why every MOH in the last 20 yrs was posthumous.  You shouldn't have to die to "win" that award.


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## car (Oct 1, 2009)

AssadUSMC said:


> Only those who were there would know.....You shouldn't have to die to "win" that award.



I haven't read either article, so I'm speaking from a perspective of ignorance. But I agree, C, that only those who were there will know.

I have a real problem with people who weren't there talking about how "so and so" deserves the MOH. They're mostly politicians, but some are parents. May God bless them, but they weren't there either, and have no idea what happened.

As for the recent "awards" being posthumous, I don't think that should be a criterion, even if it may have become one. "Gallantry and intrepidity" doesn't mean you have to die.


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## AssadUSMC (Oct 1, 2009)

car said:


> I haven't read either article, so I'm speaking from a perspective of ignorance. But I agree, C, that only those who were there will know.
> 
> I have a real problem with people who weren't there talking about how "so and so" deserves the MOH. They're mostly politicians, but some are parents. May God bless them, but they weren't there either, and have no idea what happened.
> 
> *As for the recent "awards" being posthumous, I don't think that should be a criterion, even if it may have become one. "Gallantry and intrepidity" doesn't mean you have to die.*



Exactly.  I saw so many of my friends get Bronze Stars and other awards for bravery downgraded to Navy Coms and even Navy Achievement medals.  Then I think about those chair force folks in the Midwest "earning" Bronze Stars for loading the B2s.  Or Jessica "I'm an ungrateful twat" Lynch "earning" hers for dropping her rifle and going into the fetal position.  I could go on for days...


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## car (Oct 1, 2009)

AssadUSMC said:


> Or Jessica "I'm an ungrateful twat" Lynch "earning" hers for dropping her rifle and going into the fetal position.  I could go on for days...



Easy now! She's a fellow hillbilly.....


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## Paddlefoot (Oct 1, 2009)

AssadUSMC said:


> Exactly.  I saw so many of my friends get Bronze Stars and other awards for bravery downgraded to Navy Coms and even Navy Achievement medals.  Then I think about those chair force folks in the Midwest "earning" Bronze Stars for loading the B2s.  Or Jessica "I'm an ungrateful twat" Lynch "earning" hers for dropping her rifle and going into the fetal position.  I could go on for days...



Other than Lynch, everybody on the Humvee she was riding in died that day.

I'm not sure where that information came from, and I haven't read her book. But I think that girl has taken a lot of crap over events and circumstances that she had no control over, particularly the decision by Pentagon media types to portray her as a "hero".

How about everybody just give it a rest? Bottom line, she showed up on the battlefield, which is more than most can say.

And beyond that, the back injuries she suffered, as I understand it, were pretty bad. There probably isn't a day that goes by that she isn't reminded of what occured by a sharp twinge of pain.


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## Teufel (Oct 1, 2009)

Viper1 said:


> There was an editorial in the Marine Times recently about how in an earlier era this CPL might have gotten the Medal of Honor.  Thoughts?



You could make a strong case for him.  I think Lcpl Gustafson deserved an MOH but I'm not exactly the awarding authority.  

http://northshorejournal.org/lance-cpl-brady-gustafson-awarded-navy-cross

I think SFC Cashe deserved one for what he did: http://northshorejournal.org/sgt-1st-class-alwyn-c-cashe

Capt Chontosh is another: http://www.blackfive.net/main/2004/05/captain_brian_c.html


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## AssadUSMC (Oct 2, 2009)

Paddlefoot said:


> Other than Lynch, everybody on the Humvee she was riding in died that day.
> 
> I'm not sure where that information came from, and I haven't read her book. But I think that girl has taken a lot of crap over events and circumstances that she had no control over, particularly the decision by Pentagon media types to portray her as a "hero".
> 
> ...



Sorry to bust your bubble, but I had friends involved directly with the intel and rescue that freed her.  She was grateful after suffering multiple gang rapes.  When they debriefed her, she spilled all that happened.  Then she got home and started spewing all kinds of anti-Army rhetoric, blaming Pres. Bush, etc.  That shit is uncalled for.  If she wanted to be pissed, be pissed at her idiot platoon commander who hadn't prepared her or her fellow soldiers one bit for combat.

I hope her brothers and sisters in arms rest in peace while she lives to badmouth at will.


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## car (Oct 3, 2009)

AssadUSMC said:


> If she wanted to be pissed, be pissed at her idiot platoon commander who hadn't prepared her or her fellow soldiers one bit for combat.



Yeah, I didn't want to go there, but in the end, at least in my rum-soaked mind, it was a lack of training/preparedness that caused the problems initially. We can talk all we want to about the political dynamics that came into play after her capture. But, again, rolling without (apparently) the needed training and dirty weapons is unsat.

As a fellow West Virginian, I've followed her story pretty closely. I don't like the way she came out later either, but she is still fucked up physically. Last I read, she still had a colostomy bag hanging on her and was in pain whenever she walked.

Anyway......



> I hope her brothers and sisters in arms rest in peace *snip*



Amen!


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## msteen1 (Oct 3, 2009)

I was in the formations for both LCpl Gustafson and LCpl Weinmaster when they were decorated and meritoriously promoted to Cpl.  Both occasions gave me goosebumps the entire time.  Incredibly moving events.


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## Teufel (Oct 3, 2009)

I didn't make Weinmasters formation but I did get to see Cpl Gustafsons.  Are you with 2/7?


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## Paddlefoot (Oct 3, 2009)

AssadUSMC said:


> Sorry to bust your bubble, but I had friends involved directly with the intel and rescue that freed her.  She was grateful after suffering multiple gang rapes.  When they debriefed her, she spilled all that happened.  Then she got home and started spewing all kinds of anti-Army rhetoric, blaming Pres. Bush, etc.  That shit is uncalled for.  If she wanted to be pissed, be pissed at her idiot platoon commander who hadn't prepared her or her fellow soldiers one bit for combat.
> 
> I hope her brothers and sisters in arms rest in peace while she lives to badmouth at will.



You're not bursting my bubble, Assad. 

In the end, there was a lot of bad information, half truths and flat out lies associated with what occured that day, both to her and everybody else. She has her own perspective, and I'm sure she had a lot to say about her ordeal when all was said and done. She told her debriefers she was scared? So fucking what.

I got news for you. A kid that grew up in my hometown, and would later deploy with TFR to Somalia, was extensively quoted by Bowen in Black Hawk Down. I'm not going to put his name out on this forum or thread, but he was very candid about how he felt as part of the last rescue convoy that went out into the city that morning.

Anybody reading the book might think he was cowering in the back of the Humvee. Fact is, not a man on that TF, even after reading the passages where he was quoted, thinks he showed anything but guts for being there. How * he * felt, and how he expressed it to Bowen, isn't what is remembered by his comrades. 

Combat is a highly personal experience, and as far as I know, Lynch did nothing to dishonor herself during the actions that took place that day. She may not have responded in such a way that many of us would, but she has taken way too much crap over the years for what went down, and the fact is anybody who could really verify anything about it is dead. Everybody in her vehicle died.

Like I said, give it a rest. The biggest misfortune of her experience was getting used by the Pentagon as a poster child. As it turns out, in the case of Pat Tillman, it wouldn't be the last time they pulled this bullshit. As for her book, well, she decided to set the record straight for herself. As far as I'm concerned, she had every right to do so, especially with all the crap put out there by people who should have known better.


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## msteen1 (Oct 3, 2009)

Yea I've been here since January.


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## AssadUSMC (Oct 3, 2009)

Paddlefoot - First of all, I'm not directing anger at you.  Second of all, I'm not condemning her actions (or inaction) that day.  If you read what I wrote, I was pissed after hearing the words out of her own mouth.  I think what happened to her was a horrible, unbearable thing.  Those Iraqi scum did unspeakable things to her and she could nothing to stop it.  However, honor doesn't end when you get home.  Personally, I'd have vented at GWB himself if I had a bone to pick about being used as a poster child.  The Pat Tillman cover-up is a completely different, yet utterly abhorrent, mess.


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## Paddlefoot (Oct 4, 2009)

AssadUSMC said:


> Paddlefoot - First of all, I'm not directing anger at you.  Second of all, I'm not condemning her actions (or inaction) that day.  If you read what I wrote, I was pissed after hearing the words out of her own mouth.  I think what happened to her was a horrible, unbearable thing.  Those Iraqi scum did unspeakable things to her and she could nothing to stop it.  However, honor doesn't end when you get home.  Personally, I'd have vented at GWB himself if I had a bone to pick about being used as a poster child.  The Pat Tillman cover-up is a completely different, yet utterly abhorrent, mess.



I hear you, brother.

I understand where you're coming from, and I think in my first post I used the collective and inclusive "everybody" because I've seen a lot of derogatory remarks directed at Lynch over the years. It's almost as if she became the focal point for everything that has gone wrong, when in fact she is lucky to have survived. And she shouldn't have been displayed as she was after her rescue. I'm sure she would have preferred maintaining at least a little anonymity, in terms of how she was described early on.

And bottom line, she was a POW. If we're not allowed to use EPWs like that, we sure as shit shouldn't be using our own POWs in a similar manner, which in this instance was for pure propaganda purposes.

As for Pat Tillman, you're right, his story is different in terms of the missions he was going on, and the type of man he was. Certainly, nobody can ever question his bravery or dedication. But he got used the same way as Lynch, by a Pentagon brass that decided that in order to cover up the details of his death, they had to concoct a story that had no resemblance to the truth.

And bear in mind, Pat's brother has been as outspoken as Lynch in the aftermath of what occured. And like Lynch, he has every right to do so, and his anger should have no bearing on his service or sacrifice, either.

As for the medal Lynch received, those decisions are made by those appointed above her. As I stated, there should be a shitload of dersision reserved for those at those higher levels who got the ball rolling in both these cases.


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