Camp Lejeune

Cooksville resident Rosemary Clark will demonstrate the art of quilting with step-by-step instructions at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Glenwood branch library on Route 97. Clark, who lives across the street, runs a home-based quilting business called RC Dream Quilts. She teaches in her studio and sells her quilts twice a year, in May and September, "right on the front lawn." She has made 12 Harry Potter quilts - one with a three-dimensional cloak with Harry's initials monogrammed on the lining.

In the sleepless nights after his son's death in Iraq in October, Eric F. Herzberg spent his time sending e-mails to people who had signed an online condolence book. One note in particular caught his attention. It was from the mother of Justin Carman, a Marine who served alongside Herzberg's son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Eric W. Herzberg of Severna Park. Faith Carman offered her sympathy and something else: a videotape of the two young men at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

As the buses carrying 90 reservists rolled out of the Marine Corps Reserve Center in Northeast Baltimore yesterday morning, Drew Lederer, a 12-year-old Westminster boy dressed in military fatigues, buzzed a harmonica rendition of "The Marines' Hymn." The Marines and sailors left with thank-you cards made by second-graders and brown-bag lunches for the eight-hour ride to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where they will train before shipping out to Anbar province in Iraq. Hundreds of teary relatives waved goodbye from the center off Perring Parkway.

The cease-fire was in place and Kuwaitis danced in the streets, but the Persian Gulf war was not over for Lance Cpl. James M. Lang, a 20-year-old Marine reservist from Oxon Hill.Corporal Lang was killed Friday afternoon when a captured grenade detonated as he was turning it in "somewhere in Kuwait," the Marine Corps said yesterday. He was the fifth Marylander to die in the war."We received a letter from him Sunday and found out on Monday. It was a real high and a real low for the whole family," said his sister, Violet Lang, 23, of Falls Church, Va. "He was very proud to be a Marine."

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - By noon, Ensign Ahmed Aslam has made his way to the Tarawa Terrace Chapel, transformed for an hour every Friday into a mosque. He removes his pressed camouflage shirt and hangs it on the back of a metal folding chair and places his shiny black combat boots beneath a table in the back of the room. He kneels alongside a half-dozen other men on the linoleum floor covered with Persian-like throw rugs and camouflage print mats. Facing Mecca, Aslam closes his eyes, lifts his cupped hands to his face and prays to Allah.

WASHINGTON -President Barack Obama, placing his imprint on the war in Iraq, announced a timetable yesterday for a drastic reduction in troops, but failed to satisfy war critics who objected to his plans to leave behind a substantial "transitional force." Obama, who has opposed the war from its start, outlined his vision for leaving Iraq on stable footing in a region where Washington will be an active player, even holding talks with Iran and Syria. But he pointedly said that Iraq's leaders are responsible for ensuring the country's peace and guiding its future.

When the train full of Marine recruits from Baltimore reached Washington, the blacks were made to move to the back. At boot camp in North Carolina, they were forbidden to step onto Camp Lejeune without a white escort. But the worst of it, Howard "Chappie" Williams says, came when training was over. It was the height of World War II, and these first black Marines were kept from the fight. "A lot of good talent was lost as a result of that," said Williams, who drove a truck in an ammunition company during the war. "A lot of men's lives could have been saved had it not been for the warped concept that America had at that time.

George R. Montour, son of George and Evelyn Montour of here, returned from the Persian Gulf March 28.The petty officer 1st class was deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy in September.Montour lives with his wife, Susan, and their son, Christopher, near the Patuxent Naval Base in St. Mary's County.He is stationed at the Norfolk Naval Base in Norfolk, Va.MARINES COME HOMEFive county Marine reservists were greeted with sunshine and warm hugs as they returned from the Persian Gulf to their Baltimore headquarters Tuesday afternoon.

A 19-year-old Waldorf man died Wednesday in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said Friday. Terry E. Honeycutt Jr. suffered wounds during combat operations Oct. 21 in Helmand province in southwest Afghanistan. The lance corporal was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated when Terry E. Honeycutt Jr. died. The Sun regrets the error.

* Marine Pvt. Peter S. Jolles, son of Jeff M. and Gretchen P. Jollesof Union Bridge, recently graduated from a Marine Corps Basic CombatEngineer Course.During the course, conducted at Marine Corps Engineer School, Camp Lejeune, N.C., students studied the fundamentals of engineering support for combat units. Students also received instruction on the tools and procedures for building bridges, roads and field fortifications, use of demolitions, land-mine warfare and camouflage techniques.A 1990 graduate of Linganore High School, Frederick County, he joined the Marine Corps in January 1991.