Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez-Castaneda, 19, of Mesa, was one of three Marines killed Thursday supporting combat operations in Sargin in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.

WASHINGTON - The lawyer for a sergeant who led a squad of Marines during an incident that left civilians dead in Haditha, Iraq, says his client insists his unit was following military rules of engagement, did not intentionally target any civilians and did not try to cover up what it had done.

WASHINGTON - The lawyer for a sergeant who led a squad of Marines during an incident that left civilians dead in Haditha, Iraq, says his client insists his unit was following military rules of engagement, did not intentionally target any civilians and did not try to cover up what it had done.

November 17, 2004

June 3, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four Marines drowned when their tank rolled off a bridge and plunged into a canal, the military said Friday, adding that while the accident occurred in a Sunni insurgent stronghold, it was not the result of an enemy action.

November 16, 2004

PHOENIX - A man from Arizona was listed among eight Marines reported as missing following combat near An Nasiriyah in Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

A Chandler family is mourning the loss of their son, a 20-year-old Marine who died Friday in the Iraq war. Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey was killed by a suicide car bomb while conducting combat operations in Haqlaniyah, Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Charlie Osburn seems a bit one sided when he discusses how Mitt Romney failed to serve in the military when all he had to do was sign up with him in 1969. I guess Charlie had not heard that Bill Clinton failed to sign up and used college deferments to avoid the draft. Maybe it will come as a surprise to Charlie that Barack Obama decided against joining the military as well. If Charlie honestly thinks non-military service disqualifies a candidate for the Presidency, he probably should not have voted for Clinton or Obama. I do want to thank Charlie for serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He and I are brothers. I served with Howe Co. 3rd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment in the Korean war.

WASHINGTON - The White House said the details of an investigation into the killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November 2005 will be released to the public when the probe is completed.

WASHINGTON - About 85,000 U.S. troops have been alerted they will soon be sent to Iraq to relieve forces who have been there for up to a year, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday.

A Marine sergeant who was born and raised in Scottsdale died last week in Iraq. Sgt. Clinton Wayne Ahlquist, 23, died Feb. 20 after tripping an improvised explosive device while guarding a medevac helicopter in Ar Ramadi, 76 miles west of Baghdad, according to a release by the Defense Department.

WASHINGTON - Military investigators probing the deaths last November of about two dozen Iraqi civilians have evidence that points toward unprovoked murders by Marines, a senior defense official said Friday.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Five more U.S. troops were killed in Iraq, the military said, making December the year’s deadliest month for U.S. troops with the toll reaching 108.

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence has picked up signs suggesting the closer ground troops get to Baghdad the greater the chance they will face chemical weapons, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has abandoned its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty, officials said Thursday, a major change that reflects an Army stretched thin by longer-than-expected combat in Iraq.

November 12, 2004

FALLUJAH, Iraq - American forces Friday pushed deeper into the last remaining insurgent stronghold in Fallujah, and the Iraqi government rushed massive reinforcements to Mosul, the country's third-largest city, where police lost control in the face of insurgent attacks.

October 29, 2004

WASHINGTON - Military commanders in Iraq are developing a plan to move as many as 5,000 U.S. troops with armored vehicles and tanks into Baghdad in an effort to quell escalating violence, defense officials said Thursday.