There’s a twinkle in Lou Caraker’s eyes when he talks about his grandson, Chip. It’s the pride of a warrior seeing family follow in his footsteps. Chip—Capt. Thomas F. Hancock IV—is a member of the recently established Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. Hancock, of Powhatan County, was a graduate of the first class of the Marine Special Operations School in April, after he served two tours of duty in Iraq.

A flotilla of rescue vessels continued its search Saturday for nine people feared dead at sea following an air collision between a Coast Guard aircraft and a Marine Corps helicopter.

A Virginia woman isn’t giving up hope that her son survived a collision between a Coast Guard aircraft and a Marine Corps helicopter.

Investigators were trying Friday to determine why a Coast Guard airplane on a nighttime search for a missing boater collided with one of four Marine Corps helicopters flying in formation to deliver troops to a training exercise on a military island off Southern California.

A U.S. Marine corporal will spend eight years in prison for his role in two robberies that netted $10. Richmond Circuit Judge Richard D. Taylor Jr. yesterday sentenced Steven Lee Reyes of California to an active sentence of eight years for two counts each of robbery and use of a firearm in a robbery. Reyes and fellow Marine Cpl. Kraig Andrew Kiepprien of New York came to Richmond from Norfolk on Jan. 18 for a night on the town, authorities said.

The Marine Corps is court-martialing a sergeant who allegedly fabricated a tale of battlefield heroism to get freebies intended for wounded warriors.

Our son John is beginning his fifth week of boot camp at Parris Island. Old fashioned, hold-in-your-hand letters are the only contact we have with him. Thankfully, he’s a good correspondent and his letters—for the most part—are upbeat. He’s homesick, hot, 10 pounds thinner, and has a new appreciation for family, friends, and hot showers that last longer than five minutes. Other than that, he seems to be doing OK. His experiences with “the world’s scariest people” (drill instructors), quarter-decking (ask a Marine), and learning to eat with his right hand (he’s a southpaw) without looking at his food are written with humor and self-deprecation.

Sgt. Lawrence T. “Tom” Parker was a natural leader. Aided by a booming voice and a physique seemingly chiseled from granite, Sgt. Parker cast a commanding, larger-than-life presence wherever he went. A 34-year veteran of the Henrico County Division of Police and retired sergeant major with the Marine Corps Reserve, “he was a role model for our younger officers,“ said Henrico police Maj. Mary Ellen Fahed.

In a recent column, I attempted to relate a little of what happens during a Marine recruit’s transformation from civilian to warrior at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) Parris Island. Since then, I have heard from many former and current Marines who remembered well their time on that island. In what may seem a baffling paradox, just about everyone recalled those seemingly endless weeks of hardship and misery with genuine fondness.

More than 4,000 sailors and Marines are set to deploy from Norfolk for the Mediterranean and the Middle East

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. Hilton Head Island is famous for its 12-mile stretch of beautiful sand beaches. The barrier island, located just off the coast of South Carolina’s Low Country, is an upscale vacation spot where the well-heeled go to rest and re cuperate. Few people realize that little more than a stone’s throw away from the trendy shops and fabulous golf courses of this resort is another, smaller island. The views of water and beaches are every bit as beautiful as on Hilton Head, but there is precious little rest or recuperating done here.

Authorities said three buses carrying Camp Lejeune Marines en route to Norfolk, Va., for training crashed today in eastern North Carolina, injuring nine Marines and one civilian.

A brief glimpse by jurors at inadmissible portions of a taped interview with murder defendant Wyatt Ward Hollar was enough to win the former Henrico County resident a new trial. In a ruling that comes almost three months to the day after Hollar was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison after a four-day trial, Henrico Circuit Judge Gary A. Hicks yesterday declared a mistrial and set a new trial for May 4.

A Marine expeditionary unit deployed to Fort Pickett is conducting nearly two weeks of training in and around populated areas in Virginia. Most of the 2,200 Marines and sailors from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit will train at Pickett, but small groups—80 to 100 Marines—will perform three exercises at other locations, according to the 22nd’s spokesman, Capt. Clark Carpenter.