Highest Military Honor Awarded to Marine, Dakota Meyer

Dakota Meyer saved 36 lives from an ambush in Afghanistan and was awarded the nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, on September 15.

Former Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyers, from Greensburg, Ky., was in Afghanistan's Ganjgal Village, Kunar province in Sept. 2009 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 23-year-old Marine scout sniper repeatedly ran through enemy fire to recover the bodies of fellow American troops. He has since left the Marine Corps, but will become the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, Marines Say Now's Not The Time For U.S. Pullout

U.S. Marines with Golf Company patrol with Afghan forces through a harvested poppy field in Northern Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Later this month, President Barack Obama is expected to announce just how many troops will be pulled out of Afghanistan starting in July. Whether the U.S. should still be engaged in Afghanistan has been hotly contested for years, but the budget crunch and the killing of Osama bin Laden has only intensified the debate.

Marines in the Golf Company agree that now is not the time to pull combat troops out of Afghanistan. Some Marines are OK with the president pulling out support troops like the construction battalion, but not combat troops.

Marines say they've made some gains against the Taliban and they finally have the right amount of troops... finally have everything they need. They finally feel like they're making progress. They just want more time.

The handoff to the Afghan military is complicated, because there are few well-trained units.

Sgt. John Maulder says if you've ever seen Afghan forces during a firefight, all they do is "pray and pray." To leave them now, he said, would just mean the country would descend into a "civil uprising" and the U.S. would just have to turn back around to help them.

Military Losses in Afghanistan: Joseph Gill and Bradley Justin Gaudet

British Marine, Lance Corporal Martin Joseph Gill from 42 Commando Royal Marines died in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday 5th June 2011.

L-Cpl Gill was on patrol in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand. His unit was attacked by enemy forces with small-arms fire from a compound. L-Cpl Gill was hit and despite receiving immediate first aid, died of gunshot wounds.

L-Cpl Gill joined the Royal Marines in April 2008 and was appointed to the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines. Within a year, he was promoted to Lance Corporal and took responsibility for a four-man team, guarding the UK's nuclear deterrent. He moved to 42 Commando Royal Marines in September 2010.


US Army helicopter pilot, Bradley Justin Gaudet, a Warrant Officer serving with the 6th Cavalry Regiment, died on Sunday 5th June 2011 when his helicopter crashed in Afghanistan.

WO Gaudet was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan.

He had returned home last month for his daughter's birth and went back to Afghanistan a few days later to finish his tour. He and his wife, Ginny, also have a 10-year-old daughter, Tealie.

War Stories with Oliver North

War Stories is a military history program on the Fox News Channel. Hosted by Oliver North (former US Marine Corps officer, who had been convicted of three felonies during the Iran-Contra scandal and subsequently pardoned), the program covers a number of different stories relating to war and national defense, featuring individuals who were directly involved with the topic covered in the episode.


Inside Special Ops


Running the Gauntlet: The Merchant Marine


Iraq: The Homefront to the Frontlines


Battle for the Frozen Chosen


High Tech Warriors on the Battlefield


The Remarkable Life and Mysterious Death of General Patton

Marine Corps Non-lethal Weapons to be Developed by Metal Storm and General Dynamics

QUANTICO MARINE BASE, Va.
Systems designers at Metal Storm Inc. in Arlington, Va., and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Orlando, Fla., are developing prototype non-lethal weapons for U.S. Marine Corps combat vehicles under terms of research contracts.

General Dynamics and Metal Storm engineers are developing prototypes for the Marine Corps Mission Payload Module-Non-Lethal Weapon Systems (MPM-NLWS) to provide the Marine Corps with improved non-lethal counter-personnel capabilities.

The new non-lethal weapon system will be mounted to the Marine Corps BAE Systems Transparent Armor Gun Shield (MCTAGS), which is on Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) units, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs), and Logistics Vehicle Systems (LVSs).



The MCTAGS provides gunner protection that enables direct vision, situational awareness, and target acquisition while providing enhanced protection from small arms fire and fragments from roadside bombs.

Transparent Armor Gun Shields (TAGS) also are configurable for other kinds of combat vehicles, including the M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M1 Abrams main battle tank, M113 armored personnel carrier, and Stryker. TAGS is particularly effective in close-combat urban military operations.

NEW WEAPONS PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE FOR MARINES DEALING WITH NON-COMBATANTS >> http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1998/08/980828-usmc.htm