Salem-News.com Marine Corps articles

Images Capture Spirit of 35th Annual Veterans Day Parade

35th Annual Parade is Portland's only event honoring Veterans Day.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Portland residents gathered to pay their respects to the people who serve the United States in uniform on Veterans Day, as the nation remains bitterly engaged in two Mideast conflicts.

Portland's only parade held to honor America's veterans, The 35th annual Veterans Day Parade was held in the Hollywood District Nov. 11, 2009.

Visit From the Ghosts of Marine Corps Birthdays Past (VIDEO)

Stories from an inescapable lifetime connection to the Marines, a message from beyond, and several Marine related videos, happy 234th birthday Marine Corps!

(SALEM, Ore.) - As the U.S. Marine Corps observes and celebrates the day it was founded, in Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 10th 1775, I can't help but reflect on what a hard road it has been for the men and women who wear the eagle, globe and anchor for a living.

Currently embattled on numerous fronts, Marines fight the enemy in combat, then return to fight their own government for compensation. And that's not to mention the fact that the Marine Corps can eat its own for lunch.

Marines: We Celebrate November 10

A memory from the Vietnam War on the 234th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

(GUILFORD, Indiana) - The picture accompanying this story was taken in Vietnam aboard the USS Iwo Jima in late 1967. I'm on the left, holding one of the few M-14 rifles that remained in the 1st Battalion 3rd Marine Regiment (1/3) before everyone went to the M-16 rifle.

I also had a West German AGFA camera that was almost impossible to find film for in Vietnam, so this was one of those rare shots that made it home.

Report Clearing Marine Corps Connection to Camp Lejeune Sickness was Purchased

It makes some of us wonder who the people are at the head of this agency and what could make their hearts become so black and cold toward their fellow Marines.

(CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.) - The Marine Corps is in hot water. A newspaper article has exposed the fact that the Marines entered into a contract with the National Academy of Science, before paying $600,000 for a report that concludes that the Corps is not responsible for the toxic water Marines drank at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 years.

The Marines had contracted the scientists from The National Research Council to be their consultants on Camp Lejeune before the same group published their Camp Lejeune report in June of this year, which was highly favorable for the Marine Corps.

El Toro Marines, Cancer, and Irvine`s `Great Pork` Project

Salem-News.com is searching for those who spent time on the El Toro Marine Base.

(IRVINE, Calif.) - I get really fired up when I consider the Marines that I served with on the flightline at El Toro, dying and suffering from cancer. The idea of their kids and even grandkids suffering diseases borne from the toxic chemicals dumped for half a century on the Marine base and then absorbed by our bodies and passed down to theirs, is even more sinister.

Knowing that I lived and breathed this toxic contamination for over two years makes me feel dirty in a way that I never knew before, it is an inherited liability that we didn't ask for but still possess.

Congress to Navy: Assist Lejeune Veterans & Dependents

The letter questioned the Navy’s failure to develop a strategy to address the health effects of exposure to the contaminated water, the need for additional studies “in perpetuity” by the Navy, and urged the Navy act now.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - A letter of October 26st from twenty-eight Congressmen to the Secretary of the Navy expressed frustration and disappointment over the Navy’s failure to provide assistance to Camp Lejeune veterans and dependents affected by the contamination of the base water wells.

The Congressional representatives questioned the Navy’s failure to develop a strategy to address the health effects of exposure to contaminated drinking water.

Irvine`s Great Park Corporation Overlooks El Toro`s Deadly Toxicity

Man, the stuff people are still trying to get away with in this country; it is more than amazing, but not the kind of daring I admire.

(IRVINE, Calif.) - Poor environmental stewardship over more than half a century of use, left the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Irvine a toxic waste zone, seething with chemicals that have already killed and sickened more Marines that we will probably ever accurately know.

Irvine and the "Great Park Corporation" are pushing forward with plans to build a park on El Toro, even though it is clearly established that the place is the equivalent of an environmental disaster zone.

A Few Good Men and Bladder Cancer

Veterans of EPA Superfund sites are at risk for bladder cancer from organic solvent exposure. A simple and non-evasive test is available to detect bladder cancer. This information has not been passed to veterans at risk for disease.

(SOMERDALE, N.J.) - Those that served and were exposed to toxic chemicals have a critical need to know what chemicals they were exposed to and access to medical screening to stay healthy.

No reasonable person would disagree with this.

Marine Wins Battle Against Camp Lejeune`s Toxic Water

Some shortcuts need to be shared, this story is of value to all who served.

(CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.) - The Marines have won another battle, and this time the victors are veterans suffering from a variety of diseases that arose from their service at the Camp Lejeune Marine base in North Carolina.

A former Camp Lejeune Marine in Wisconsin has been awarded a 30% disability over illnesses contracted from the base's toxic water.

Senate Hears Testimony on DoD Toxic Soup

A growing awareness of serious toxic waste on military bases is getting national attention.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The Defense Department is the biggest owner of EPA Superfund sites. Over 130 military bases are on the National Priority List.

In his opening statement today, Senator Daniel Akaka, Chairman, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, noted the requirement for the VA to provide health care and compensation to veterans who were harmed by exposures while in the military.