Greetings. I hope beyond hope that this letter finds you in high spirits, good health, and planning feverishly for that day when you will be reunited with your beloved Marine or Sailor, your Mad Ghost. It truly is rapidly approaching! Advance elements of the unit that will be replacing us are on deck and learning the Mayhem AO. And, I just completed a two hour orientation brief from my staff on redeployment planning. All of this is relayed to you so that you may know it is a horizon event, and you are rapidly approaching the spot where the sun meets the sea!

Now, that said, the fight continues, and it continues in earnest. This was a good week. THIS WAS A VERY GOOD WEEK!!! We completed the third of three Bn Operations that were dubbed Red Mayhem I, II and III. These Operations combined the assets and forces of the Red Team, our HHQ, the 5th Brigade Combat Team, and your Magnificent Mayhem Mad Ghosts in company succession, I for Fox, II for Golf and III for Echo. As always, our magnificent Mobile Strike Teams provided lethality and maneuver, the Personal Security Detachment provided for mobile Command and Control and movement of Mayhem 6, the Motor T and Truck Platoons provided mobility and critical support, the Comm Section provided the communications assets for Command and Control, the HET Marines provided the interrogation set and skill, remaining elements of H&S provided stalwart FOB defense, our Navy brethren provided medical care and religious services and our Staff Section Marines surged from their standard 18-20 hour day duties to augment the combat forces and power of the Mayhem, and our magnificent military working dogs, Tino and Dingo, were forward in the fight, where they most like to be. Yes, THIS WAS A VERY GOOD WEEK!!!

In each and every one of these operations, the insurgency learned, yet again, we go where we want, we go where they think we can't or WON'T, and we find them; we find their caches and we bring help, assistance and hope to those whom they have terrorized. During Red Mayhem III, some of the caches we found had been buried with all of the skill of a puppy first learning how to bury a bone. The Marines and Soldiers from the 1-7 CAV, as well as our Iraqi Army counterparts found them with relative ease and very early on in the operation. And, by the way, on this operation we assigned our Iraqi Army counterparts, for the first time, their own search sector. Marines from the Civil Action Platoon from Co E acted from overwatch only. And, if I might, the Iraqi Army performed magnificently! They found several caches of insurgent/terrorist weaponry, and they moved and acted like professional soldiers from start to finish. Yes, they are inching ever closer to the day that THEY WILL operate without US Forces, and will crush those who oppose law and order.

There is no doubt the tables have turned against the insurgents in our zone! The atmospherics we get from the people are SIGNIFICANTLY different than when we first arrived. They talk of fighting back against the insurgents. They talk openly of their respect for us and their gratitude at our assistance. They are far less afraid to be seen talking and cooperating with us. They are growing. GROWING IN FREEDOM in what will be a long process, but one whose outcome is inevitable. There is a wind of change in this part of the world. And it blows strong and hot. And it blows with a discontent for evil, for repression, for tyranny, for brutality. It blows with it a desire for peace, for righteousness, for dignity, for tolerance and for FREEDOM. I tell you, you can taste it in the air.

Now, our enemy will not cease. He continues his daily war of IEDs and cowardly tactics. The Mad Ghosts continue to hunt him relentlessly. For example, this week, the Marines of Mobile Strike Team 2 were executing one of the unique techniques that have been adopted by the ever evolving Mad Ghosts, but will remain ambiguous for security reasons, when they seized a boat on a canal. In the boat were IED making materials and the two Iraqis in the boat tested positive for explosives, and were immediately detained. One of the sharp Marines noticed wire, which they traced to a daisy-chained IED consisting of 11 explosive rounds! The IED was safely disposed of by the professional US Navy EOD team currently assigned to the Mayhem Battalion. This was but just one of the many HUGE successes accomplished this week by your Mad Ghosts.

Let me tell you another one. The Marines of Co E, who have to have set a record for miles logged in foot patrols, and whose phsyical condition is currently second to no one, were on one of their daily and continuous patrols through Mahmudiyah. While on this patrol, they were approached by a local who told them of a shooting a couple of blocks away. The local explained that armed men pulled up in a couple of cars, sprayed another car with machine gun fire, kidnapped the male driver, left the female driver for dead, and then placed a bomb in the trunk. Now, immediately, the Marines of Co E knew this was a standard tactic of our enemy who knows no limit to his cowardice. They approached the scene cautiously and established a safe cordon around the vehicle. From the cordon, the squad's US Navy Corpsman, through long range observation, saw what he believed to be bubbles forming in the blood underneath the nose of the supposed dead female. "Doc" made the decision that she was still alive. With that information, the Doc and the Squad Leader moved forward, extricated the female, and were approximately 30 meters away when the car detonated in a huge fireball of death and destruction. This entire episode was captured by one of the Marines on video and is as dramatic as any Hollywood scene you have ever viewed. Now, we can debate the smartness of their actions all we want, but what I ultimately know is this: this Marine and Sailor COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DISREGARDED THEIR OWN SAFETY TO SAVE THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT IRAQI WHO HAD BEEN GUNNED DOWN IN COLD BLOOD, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT ON A BUSY STREET! Now unfortunately, the women later died at the Mahmudiyah Hospital. But know this, the Iraqi crowd that had gathered to witness this whole event, well, they cheered. No, check that, they celebrated in the Arab way of near hysteria for the heroic actions of the Doc and the Marine. They saw once again what AMERICANS are all about. And, I have no doubt, once again, they have learned. They have learned for future actions. They have learned evil and terror can be fought. They have learned that there is a heavy price, BUT GOOD ALWAYS TRIUMPHS OVER EVIL!!!!! (Now this video should be released soon, and if it does not make the major media outlets, well, then something is wrong! But if it does not, we will show it to you all upon our return.) It is heroism in action, and just another day at the office for the Mad Ghosts of 2/24.

One more story and then I shall take my leave of you for another week so that you may turn to your important tasks and duties. This story revolves around a pin: it is called the Fleet Marine Force Pin. It is a decoration that may be worn by US Navy Corpsman who have earned it. It says that they are Fleet Corpsman. It says that they have completed the required screening, training and evaluation to wear this pin. It is a US Navy design with a United States Marine Corps Eagle Globe and Anchor emblazened in the center of it. And...it is coveted. For all that is difficult to attain is cherished most. One of the things that has to be accomplished to achieve the pin, just one of many, is for the Sailor to pass the USMC physical fitness test. Today, one did. But, you ask, what is so special about that? Well, part of the USMC Physical Fitness Test is a 3 mile run. And, in the Mayhem AO, we embrace the warrior spirit, we do not challenge it. So, EVERY TIME you leave a hardened structure, whether it is to go to the porta-pottie or to run 3 miles inside the wire around the FOB, you do it with your helmet on, your flak jacket and SAPI plates on (approximately 30 lbs) and with your weapon and ammunition. So, this is how the good Doc ran his 3 miles. In full up gear, or as we like to say "full battle rattle!" And, he accomplished it in 27 minutes. Phenomenal time with that much gear on.

Only accomplished through sheer determination and will to succeed. But, for you hard to impress types, let me add a couple more facts. The Doc that did this....oh yeah, he is 55 years old! You heard me, 55 years old. He is a brain surgeon in Chicago! He joined the Navy at 52 to give back to his country following the impacts felt around the world on September 11, 2001. He has a fantastic wife and two lovely children. He to this day refuses to tell me how much money he is losing by being here, but my simple Hoosier mind knows it is at least 6 figures, if not 7. He is as hard as woodpecker lips and as gentle as a fall breeze. He is the man we should ALL aspire to be. He has taken sacrifice and dedication and compassion and EXAMPLE to a new level. And you know what; in the middle of the blood and the mud and the hate and the terror and the fear and the violence, I have never once seen him that he did not have a smile on his face! His enthusiasm is contagious. He is an amazing human being. And although my junior in rank, he is a shining example of manhood and the Warrior Code, and we are all just lucky as lucky gets to have him among us!!!

YES, IT HAS BEEN A VERY GOOD WEEK!!!