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VOLUME 75, EDITION 38
The
GL BE SERVING CAMP LEJEUNE AND SURROUNDING AREAS SINCE 1944
New weapon
Marine receives American Legion Spirit of Service Award| 3A
Marines shoot IAR system | 5A THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
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MotoMail ends Sept. 30 CPL. CHARLIE CLARK
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
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he once popular MotoMail program is scheduled to cease Sept. 30, due to declining use of service and budgetary constraints. MotoMail, implemented in December 2004, is a one-way electronic mail service that enables family and friends of deployed service members to send letters and photographs via the internet that are printed, sealed and delivered to deployed troops. Letters sent from the MotoMail website, or the application on smart phones and tablets, are typically delivered within 48 hours. Motomail has been utilized during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, as well as during Marine Expeditionary Unit operations. “Infantry Marines don’t get email accounts, so MotoMail was a great program for them to get letters and photos,” said Sgt. Krista Jones, assistant postal finance officer and postal clerk with Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group. “With my experience on MEU’s, that was a blessing for the Marines.” More than 5.8 million letters were delivered during the program’s activity. The reduction of troops in OEF, availability of Marine Corps Community Services internet cafes and phone centers and social networking websites have contributed to the use of MotoMail to drop significantly since its creation. According to a Headquarters Marine Corps Marine and Family Program statistic, the use of MotoMail has dropped SEE MOTOMAIL 5A
Patriot Day Community honors victims, fallen with solemn ceremony AMY BINKLEY
Lifestyles editor
For a brief moment, silence enveloped the city that never sleeps. It was fleeting, but in the deafening lull, the nation, its citizens and an entire generation were changed forever. Hundreds of Onslow County residents, law enforcement and government representatives and service members from surrounding military installations gathered for the Patriot Day observance hosted by the Onslow Civic Affairs Committee at the Lejeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, N.C., Sept. 11. Twelve years ago, 19 terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger airliners and set their courses of destruction. An unknowing and unsuspecting public watched as the planes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in rural Pennsylvania
after passengers overtook their enemy. Before the country could shake itself from the shock, 2,974 people were dead. “In a word, it was surreal,” said military police officer Carl Urbina, a former New York Police Department officer and a first responder to the scene. “The magnitude of the damage and carnage was unbelievable.” Urbina explained how the ceremonies help people to remember the victims and revives the human spirit. “I’ll never forget how strong our country was and how as human beings we always look out for each other,” he stated. “We always want to remember this.” The surprise attack left America badly wounded, and although the bleeding has since stopped, the deep scars cannot be ignored. “Just a few hundred yards away stands the Beirut Memorial, which many agree was the SEE PATRIOT 5A
Photos by Amy Binkley
(Top) Representatives from area military installations, local law enforcement agencies and emergency response organizations take part in the annual Patriot Day observance hosted by the Onslow Civic Affairs Committe at the 9/11 Memorial in the Lejeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, N.C., Sept. 11. (Above) The Jacksonville Fire Department Honor Guard presents the colors for the Patriot Day observance at the Lejeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, N.C., Sept. 11. The ceremony focused on the victims who lost their lives as a direct result of the terrorist activities Sept. 11, 2001.
22nd MEU Marines conduct demolition range training
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Female Marines condition for PFT
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Photo by Cpl. Manuel A. Estrada
Marine Corps combat engineers with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, explode an expedient charge during a demolition range as part of the MEU’s Realistic Urban Training exercise at Fort Pickett, Va., recently. The Marines practiced constructing several different types of breaching charges to add the tactic to the battalion’s skill set.
Families celebrate Farmer’s Day 1C