Camp Lejeune

Several local Marines took part in a community relations project during a port visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while on a scheduled deployment in support of the global war on terrorism while assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) homebased at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Volunteers worked at City of Hope, a women's shelter in Jumeirah. They painted hallways and performed general repair work, while some of the service members played with the children staying at the home.

Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Michael B. Stotler, son of Linda K. and Greg L. Stotler of Berkeley Springs, recently completed the Personnel Clerk Course at Personnel Administration School, Marine Corps Service Support Schools, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Stotler, a 2002 graduate of Berkeley Springs High School, joined the Marine Corps Reserve in March 2004. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Charles S. Galarneau, son of Sharon Galarneau and James Lynn of Berkeley Springs, graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com Kevin Michael Lowe, a 21-year-old Marine who was involved in the fighting in Iraq from the beginning through the capture of Baghdad, came home to a hero's welcome Friday afternoon. Red, white and blue balloons floated from mailboxes on Sherri's Way, Lowe's street in Whispering Hills. Some of his neighbors put signs in his honor on their front lawns. His parents, Kevin W. and Gloria Lowe, drove to Camp Lejeune, N.C., Thursday to pick up their son. His unit had just flown in. When their green van entered the cul-de-sac in Smithsburg, the first thing Lowe saw was about a dozen family members and friends on his family's front porch at 104 Sherri's Way. His grandfather, John Forbes, 72, a Marine who served during the Korean War, was among them.