Marines battle the elements while facing insurgents and improvised explosiv [Image 9 of 9]

AL QA'IM, IRAQ

06.25.2006

Photo by Spc. Antonio Rosas 

I Marine Expeditionary Force

Cpl. Ian R. Whipple, a 25-year-old Marine from Snohomish, Wash., writes letters home during a few moments of free time, on the hood of his humvee at one of the Marines' outposts along the Iraqi-Syrian border June 25, 2006. Whipple said he often writes to his wife, who is pregnant with their first child. Whipple is a vehicle commander assigned to one of the battalion's Mobile Assault Platoons - teams of Marines who patrol Iraq's roads and cities daily in up-armored humvees, providing security to the region and disrupting insurgent activity. The Marines face everything from occasional mortar attacks and roadside bombs to temperatures well in the 100s in Iraq. "There are good days and there are bad days out here," said Whipple. "Sometimes we'll be in the truck sitting in a field somewhere and it will remind me of eastern Washington, where I'm from." The battalion arrived in Iraq in March and will be replaced by another southern California-based Marine Corps unit in the Fall. (Photo by Cpl. Antonio Rosas)

• Date Taken: 06.25.2006
• Date Posted: 07.06.2006 11:47
• Photo ID: 25203
• Resolution: 867x1200
• Size: 343.71 KB
• Location: AL QA'IM, IQ