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The Duffel Brief · the free edition, Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Vol. 15 · No. 114 · Thursday, 24 September 2026

Army

Mitch McConnell returns from extended drill weekend

Staff says senator’s three-month absence was “routine National Guard obligation”

Trump considers replacing Hegseth with rock or something

Army adopts ‘Your body, my choice’ as new recruiting slogan

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Vol. 15 · No. 114

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Vol. 15 · No. 114 · Deployed worldwide

Thursday

24 September 2026

1734 Zulu

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Navy & Marines · Page 5

Marine Corps admits Iwo Jima Marines not actually raising a flag

Filed · 1537

WASHINGTON — After a spate of recent concerns over the misidentification of six men photographed raising a flag over Iwo Jima, the Marine Corps has now revealed that the men were not actually raising a flag at all, but instead lifting a support beam into place for an ocean-view bar.

"It turns out not only did we get some of the names wrong, but the Marines were actually just building their own tavern, since there was not one on the island at the time," Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Ronald Green said. “‘Tun Tavern East’ was its name.”

Given the intense heat and humidity of the Japanese Archipelago and the storied history of the Corps as a military drinking organization with a war-fighting problem, it is no surprise that one of the first objectives upon landing was to set up a watering hole.

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