A Marine who gave all

Tom Rogan:

This Marine veteran deserves your remembrance today

Fourteen years ago this Saturday, Lt. Col. David Greene of the U.S. Marine Corps was shot and killed as he flew his Cobra gunship in support of operations in Anbar province, Iraq.

I didn't know Greene personally, but I was motivated to learn a little about him when President Trump recalled Greene's life at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. And I think you should know a little about Greene.
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And with Iraqi security force leaders in Anbar heavily targeted by AQI and other insurgents, it was up to the Marines to hold the line. That effort fell to Marine officers like Greene and his comrades from smaller elements of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Greene was central to these efforts.

Piloting a Cobra gunship, Greene flew in combat support for Marines on the ground. Lacking the abundance of aerial drones that Marines rely on today, the Marines of Anbar 2004 relied on Greene and his fellow aviators to provide them with advance warning of approaching enemies and with air support in the event of enemy contact. There can be very little doubt that Greene saved many lives as he repeatedly fought with Marines on the ground to assault and repel AQI formations.

Neither can there be much doubt that Greene saved many Iraqi civilian lives. After all, deployed along the Euphrates River corridor between Ramadi to Fallujah to Baghdad, Greene would have been responsible for intercepting AQI movements along the highways between their civilian bombing targets. The unknown Iraqi Shia children of Baghdad, a favored target for AQI, who Greene saved will now be young adults. They owe much to someone they've never heard of.

That speaks to something deeper here — about Greene, the Marine Corps, and all the branches of the U.S. military.

Whatever your view of the Iraq War, there's no question that men and women like Greene did courageous and moral work for the nation and humanity. Of course, as a Marine officer, Greene would never want his memory to go before those enlisted Marines who died alongside him. Correspondingly, here are the names of the Marines that Icasualties.org records as also losing their lives in Anbar province during July 2004....
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Check out the other Marines who lost their lives that month and honor their sacrifice too.  These are very special people not only to their families but for this country and the freedom we and those we support enjoy.