29 Palms Marine to receive Navy Cross

Ravage

running up that hill
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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.

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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.

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

Get some!
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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...
 
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.
 
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
 
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.

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.
 
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!
 
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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