At Camp Lejeune, an 170-square-mile base and home to about 50, 000 uniformed troops, counselors at the Naval Hospital were gearing up to offer help as the ripples from Monday's tragedy began reaching family and friends, barracks mates and survivors, said Dr. Sawsan Ghurani, director of mental health programs at the hospital.

NPR: Marines Killed In Training Were Young, Lives Ahead

Some of the possibilities that have been reported include ground troops, CF-18 jet fighters and naval frigates on the front lines.

CNN: Response to attacks on Bush-Chretien agenda

France, which has troops in nearby Djibouti and also participates in a multi-national naval force patrol in the area, has intervened twice to release French sailors kidnapped by pirates.

BBC: Warships surround Somali pirates

The Tarawa calamity was already a Pacific legend: how naval intelligence, relying on obsolete charts, had miscalculated the tides so flagrantly that the Marine troops in their landing vessels were forced to disembark on coral reefs and then wade ashore for hundreds of yards, exposed to killing fire from Japanese machine guns.

NEWYORKER: Rat Beach