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USMC Sgt's grouping, Afganistan


P-59A
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You might be able to find Ellis via social media. Could be he fell on some hard times and lost the contents of that locker because of it.

This was my thought too. I was told about this two months ago. I took a look at everything and pulled these items aside. I talked the seller into agreeing to look for Ellis and return these items. After two months the seller was unable to make contact with Ellis. An attempt was made through the storage company to make contact and that no had reply. The seller called me to say he was going to sell this at the swap meet to recover his money all of it together or a piece at a time. Thats when I stepped up. This is a nice grouping and needs to stay together.

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Brian Dentino

A sad reminder of those so recent that gave their all for us, our Nation, and our freedom. Nice that this can be kept together to honor Cpl. Stanton, but sad to see such a fresh young looking youth lost to the trials of war in such recent times. Sort of a wake up call for me (primarily WWII collector) of what it must have felt like to see so many youth taken in their flower of prime and glory. Heck, this poor kid was born when I was graduating high school! Glad you were able to save these items and give the Cpl. the honor that he deserves.

Semper Fi Corporal Stanton, may you join the brothers above in standing continual guard over our great Nation.

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It's amazing what shows up in rooms in California.

 

And even more amazing that somehow these things come to the market.

 

I never bought a room myself but have gone to the auctions with people who do and sorted through.

 

The best system of buying a room and liquidating it is in California with SoCal being the best place.

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This was my thought too. I was told about this two months ago. I took a look at everything and pulled these items aside. I talked the seller into agreeing to look for Ellis and return these items. After two months the seller was unable to make contact with Ellis. An attempt was made through the storage company to make contact and that no had reply. The seller called me to say he was going to sell this at the swap meet to recover his money all of it together or a piece at a time. Thats when I stepped up. This is a nice grouping and needs to stay together.

 

I'm glad you posted this, your attempt to find the original owner is commendable. I saw this post yesterday and it really bummed me out. There are a lot of possible reasons why these items ended up being auctioned - but I couldn't help but think there's a sad story behind them. Seeing his buddy's memorial service items really hits hard. This is a good reminder that the items we collect once belonged to veterans and all have stories to tell - some good and some bad.

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Good job for keeping his memory alive. It is very commendable that you would try and return these items as well, kudos to you. Thanks for sharing.

 

Hunt

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I looked a this yesterday too, and it made me very sad as mentioned above by another poster, rd12, and sick to my stomach. I too get the feeling something bad here.Looks like the guy Ellis may have been on honor guard (just my WAG). Seems very strange the half-dozed or more Afghanistan-flown American flags never made it to the intended families named on the certificates (are they families of KIA's too)? Wonder what happened to Ellis? Maybe he's gone now too? Jordan Stanton had over 1000 people at his funeral. Maybe his brother Robert Stanton who spoke at jordan's funeral could be called on the phone, given back the Jordan stuff, and he would know who Ellis is/was.

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It would be nice to return everything back to the respective family, but; that is not always possible and feasible...then it reverts to us...the historian/collectors who care.

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As for the flags...a Marine Col. Pm'ed me about these. It seems what started out as a way to honor retired vets morphed into a way to thank all sorts of people for all sorts of things. On the face they look freaking cool but the Col. Told me when you peel the onion...not so much. When he was at the embassy in Bagdad they would raise a flag for 20 seconds and then lower it. They made what amounts to production runs of flags for God knows who. I have no idea who these people are or why they rated a flag. They could have been friends, contractors or donors back home.

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I dont know what to say about Ellis. I dont opperate a charity that returns items for the fun of it and i look like a jerk if i ask to recover out of pocket costs. I don't see much room for a win win situation. At best all I can say it that it's still all together.

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I dont know what to say about Ellis. I dont opperate a charity that returns items for the fun of it and i look like a jerk if i ask to recover out of pocket costs. I don't see much room for a win win situation. At best all I can say it that it's still all together.

A return of your expenditures would not be a unreasonable request.
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I dont know what to say about Ellis. I dont opperate a charity that returns items for the fun of it and i look like a jerk if i ask to recover out of pocket costs. I don't see much room for a win win situation. At best all I can say it that it's still all together.

 

I agree with tarbridge, nothing wrong with asking to recoup your expenses should Ellis ever re-surface.

 

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All of the presentation flags are from the same place. No two have the same date, the dates are 04FEB13, 20FEB13, 28FEB13, 01MAR13, 02MAR13 and 28FEB13.

post-169522-0-91399200-1518768217_thumb.jpg

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Marine mentors continue professional development

Captain Kyle Larish, the executive officer of Police Advisor Team 4, and 31-year-old native of Buffalo, New York, engages with the assistant district chief of police and other Afghan Uniformed Police during a patrol to the Kajaki Police Headquarters, Feb. 11. "(We) are advising their key staff members in their functional areas to coordinate their efforts with their higher headquarters," said 1st Lt. Chad Ernst, the fires officer and Joint Terminal Attack Controller with PAT-4. "We are trying to help them get the Afghan support they need in the correct format."




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Marine mentors continue professional development

Petty Officer 2nd Class Bradlee Brackeen, a corpsman with Police Advisor Team 4, and a 27-year-old native of Whitesboro, Texas, provides security during a patrol to Checkpoint Doblex, Feb. 11. Brackeen provides medical support to the AUP and advises the local Afghan medic.




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Marine mentors continue professional development

Afghan Uniformed Police officers search a vehicle at Checkpoint Doblex, Feb. 11. Checkpoint Doblex is manned by AUP patrolmen and is the only road into the Kajaki District Center. “We just finished a joint operation, and they have shifted some personnel around,†said Sgt. Michael Ellis, a military policeman with Police Advisor Team 4 and a 30-year-old native of Orange County, Calif. “Doblex holds a tactical advantage because it is the only route (Taliban) use from Keneshe Wan to bring in money, ammunition, and supplies, so they have to search those vehicles.â€




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Marine mentors continue professional development

Sergeant Brandon Wolfe, a motor transport mechanic with Police Advisor Team 4 and 25-year-old native of Grimes, Iowa, talks to local children during a patrol to Checkpoint Doblex, Feb. 11. The Marines and sailors of PAT-4 have established relationships with the Afghan Uniformed Police and the local populace.








02.20.2013 --

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ZEEBRUGGE, Afghanistan — Marines have been patrolling and fighting alongside Afghan Uniformed Police for several years, but in Kajaki the Marines are focused on a different fight: staying out of the way.


Marines and sailors with Police Advisor Team 4 have established relationships with the local AUP and are now in a strictly advisory role.


The team’s role no longer includes training, according to Sgt. Michael Ellis, a military policeman with the team. Instead, the Afghan government has taken the lead on training its police officers, to include advanced courses for noncommissioned officers and explosive hazards reductions.


“They know how to do everything, so we are moving from coaches and teachers to overseers. We say, ‘You know how to fish, let’s see you do it,’” Ellis said.


The team is designed to directly mimic the AUP’s infrastructure. Each Marine officer has an Afghan counterpart who works in the same field such as supply, logistics, or communications. The commanding and executive officers of the team reflect the jobs of the District Chief of Police and the Assistant DCOP.


“(We) are advising their key staff members in their functional areas to coordinate their efforts with their higher headquarters,” said 1st Lt. Chad Ernst, the fires officer and Joint Terminal Attack Controller with PAT-4. “We are trying to help them get the Afghan support they need in the correct format.”


In years past, the Marines would have told the Afghan leaders how to best solve a problem. The test, however, is no longer open book.


“When we advise them, the biggest thing we try to do is get them to come up with an Afghan solution to the problem,” said Ernst, a 25-year-old native of Minneapolis, Minn.


A few times a week, the team visits the Kajaki Police Headquarters and nearby Checkpoint Doblex.


“We just finished a joint operation, and they have shifted some personnel around,” said Ellis, a 30-year-old native of Orange County, Calif. “Doblex holds a tactical advantage because it is the only route (insurgents) use from Keneshe Wan to bring in money, ammunition, and supplies, so they have to search those vehicles.”


The AUP continue to improve in the Kajaki District, according to Ernst.


“The guys on the ground, the patrolmen, are great,” Ernst said. “They are trained, dedicated, and willing to do what is necessary to secure (Kajaki).”


The final step will be the AUP coordinating with local Afghan National Security Forces without the help of Marines, Ernst said.


“We want them to learn this is their district, so they should be coordinating with ANSF in the area,” Ernst said. “We want to show them the Afghan National Civil Order Police and the Afghan National Army, and say ‘They are doing it, you can too.’”



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In the fourth row of challenge coins in the center is a mini police badge for Police Advisor Team Four Afghanistan . The above story was borrowed from a USMC web site and Ellis is named as a member of that group and quoted in the story.

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2/16/2018 Afghan police fight on home turf at Kajaki https://www.dvidshub.net/news/printable/69318 1/2 Afghan police fight on home turf at Kajaki Regional Command Southwest Story by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Ross Date: 04.25.2011 Posted: 04.25.2011 11:52 News ID: 69318 FORWARD OPERATING BASE ZEEBRUGGE, Afghanistan – U.S. Marines have been defending the area around the Kajaki Dam near here for more than a year, but they are not the only force fighting to protect this key terrain. Many of the nearly 130 Afghan Uniformed Police officers stationed at Kajaki can literally call the area home, and the Marines based here say their Afghan counterparts have proven themselves in action against the insurgency. “(The AUP) go out and find IEDs for us,” said Cpl. Anthony J. Chavez, 24, an Albuquerque, N.M., native and a provisional rifleman with Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8. “We take them out with us on pushes … they’ve contributed [to] us in helping push the insurgents back.” The AUP is a national security force intended to provide community policing services and rule of law. “The AUP are important because, other than the provincial governor, they’re the only government influence in these rural areas,” said 1st Lt. Aiden Katz, 25, the officer in charge of the Police Advisory Team from 1st Bn., 5th Marines, RCT-8, and a Queens, N.Y., native. The Kajaki AUP outfit is notable for its organization and patrolling ability, qualities that stem from the fact that most of the unit’s original officers were recruited out of local families displaced by the insurgency, said Katz. “From my experience the AUP do tend to be local, but not specifically from [the area they patrol],” he explained. “The majority of these AUP are originally from here.” Kajaki’s defining features are the hydroelectric dam on the Helmand River and the fertile green zone that winds along it into Sangin District to the south. Coalition security in the area centers around the dam, and the AUP station is adjacent to it. Much of the population that had lived in the villages near the dam and the nearby green zone fled about five years ago after fighting in the area intensified. The local bazaar closed and most of the locals went with it. “Five years ago the bazaar was busy and crowded,” said Haji Faziullah Ahakizad, who has been district chief of police for several years. “After the Taliban came all the people left.” Many of Kajaki’s displaced families settled near the provincial capital at Lashkar Gah. Much of the local AUP force was recruited from there, said Faziullah. Faziullah and his men have established several posts in the lowlands around the dam. At night, lights from their trucks and checkpoints can be seen from the hillside forward operating base here, patrolling and interdicting suspicious activity. 2/16/2018 Afghan police fight on home turf at Kajaki https://www.dvidshub.net/news/printable/69318 2/2 Marine Police Advisory Teams with 1st and 3rd Battalions, 5th Marines, have been working with the Kajaki AUP for more than a year. The PATs teach the AUP patrolling and rule of law tactics, and serve as an operational liaison between the Afghan forces and the Marines. Cpl. Brock Bigej, a police trainer with 1st Bn., 5th Marines’ advisory team and a Portland, Ore., native, knows about working with Afghan police. In 2009 and 2010 he spent several months training Afghan Border Police officers in southern Helmand province. By the end of that deployment the ABP had made significant strides under their Marine mentors, he said. “It was very gratifying to see the progress they had made by the end of seven months,” he said. The experiences from his previous advisory deployment lead Bigej to volunteer for his current mission. As good as the unit he helped mentor last year were, the police at Kajaki are better, he said. “This unit is much more organized than the unit I worked with last time,” he said. “They’re moving around at night and during the day providing security. They’re much more independent than the last group.” The AUP are designed to serve more as a traditional police force than a full-fledged fighting force, but the reduced population around the dam has the Kajaki AUP working the other way around, said Katz. They are operating much more akin to how the [Afghan National Army] would be,” he explained. The AUP here have been involved in numerous actions against local insurgents since the Marines took over security of the area. There is plenty of insurgent activity in the area just outside the security bubble near the dam, and improvised explosive devices are a serious threat to locals and coalition forces. “The insurgents in this area are not from here,” said Faziullah. “They want to fight; we will fight them.” The result of the AUP aggressively policing in the area has been to create an extra layer of security that benefits coalition units and locals in the area, said Katz. The police advisors are not the only Marines to note the effectiveness of the Kajaki AUP. Primary security for the area falls to 1st Bn., 10th Marines, and certain AUP officers have achieved quasi-folklore status with the unit. The Marines talk of an officer nicknamed “IED Dundee,” whom they say has unearthed and disarmed dozens of improvised explosive devices in the area. Other officers are known for their lethal accuracy with rocket propelled grenades and PKM machine guns. Although most of the local populace may have fled, the AUP are involved in the lives of those locals who elected to stay. In January, a local man stepped on an IED likely meant for coalition forces. Two AUP officers rushed to his aid before hitting a second device. One officer lost his legs, the other lost a foot, said Katz. “Being from here they have a notable amount of bravery to protect the people and fight the enemy,” he said. For now the coalition and AUP forces in the area are in a holding pattern in the area around the dam, although Faziullah has plans for the future of his home district that go beyond the current situation. "My plan is to expand my posts,” he said. “The Marines will help me, and the [Afghan National Army] will help me, and we will bring peace to Kajaki.”

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS FROM THE SAME TIME ELLIS WAS STATIONED THERE. THE NAMES QUOTED IN THIS STORY ARE THE SAME NAMES IN THE FIRST STORY.

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Great stuff, P-59A I hope you do well on the grouping. I'd love to have one or 2 of the flags; if you are going to beak it up, let me know. Yes, they just run the flags up and down the flagpole. They do the same thing at the US Capitol building, for Congressmen to give away to constituents with a similar certificate. In another life I worked in the capitol building, and knew the guys that stood upstairs there and ran them up the flagpole all day; would go up and hang out with them sometimes. It's the kind of stupid job that pot helps, with a great view! In my post above, I didn't mean that when I saw this that "it made me sick" was any reflection on P-59A, I just get sick now when I see such KIA related groups of stuff that's recent, cause i now really hate going to these young guys funerals, seeing their wives and youngster kids there, seeing what they have to bear... No reflection on you P-59A, it's your stuff and good luck with it.

 

 

 

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