Help keep you, your Marine and our military personnel safe by not sharing any personal or military information in email or in any online environment. Online communities, including those that are "Military" by design, do NOT have a way to assure that every member has the same goal of safety and security for our Marines and military personnel. Knowledge is power; the enemy does not need to know anything other than our Military is ready to act and defend. To help keep you and our military safe, do not share information except with your family and very close friends.

Lucian Read has spent the past two years covering the US Marines in their fight with the Iraqi insurgency in central and western Iraq - including the coverage of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit through its entire tour in-country, and the fierce battles of Najaf and Fallujah in 2004. His photos include Marines from 11th MEU, 1/4, 2/1, 3/1, 2/5, and 3/6 as well. His images capture the inner lives of close-knit fighting groups as no other contemporary photographer has.

Lucian Read will give a presentation of his photos on Friday evening, April 21, 2006. He will have an open exhibit for all conference attendees in the Hospitality Room on Friday and Saturday.

In June of 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Blankenship was assigned as the Operations Officer, Recruit Training Regiment until assuming command of First Recruit Training Battalion in January 2004. After two years in command, and training over 12,000 new Marines, Lieutenant Colonel Blankenship relinquished command in January 2006. He has been selected for promotion to Colonel and assignment to the Naval War College.

We are honored to have LtCol Blankenship at the MarineParents.com Conference in Houston, April 21- 23 speaking on the "State of Bootcamp" on Saturday Evening as well as presenting the Bootcamp Breakout Session on Saturday morning. We encourage all poolie and Recruit families to register to attend the conference for a rare opportunity to meet with the former CO of MCRD San Diego!

Thanks to your help, we've now reached 60% of our goal of $5200 to ship 350 cases of donated Girl Scout Cookies® to our deployed Marines. We still need your help! The cookies were donated by the Girl Scouts of Housatonic Council, Inc. in Bridgeport, CT. Please help us reach our goal and make your donation today!

Save $4 when you spend $40 from now until March 14! Use coupon code March4 for discount. All proceeds from sale of items goes to support the MarineParents.com, Inc. web site and services.