thedrifter
10-09-03, 06:23 AM
U.S. Marine Corps
Lance Cpl. Joshua Vrooman and Lt. Col. Donald Vrooman
Father and Son Serve
Together for Iraqi Freedom
By U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Matthew Miller
CAMP IWO JIMA, Kuwait — When U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joshua Vrooman joined his mother and sister last March to say goodbye to his father, he wasn't sure when he'd see his dad again. The family had watched Lt. Col. Donald Vrooman deploy many times during his 24-year Marine Corps career.
As it turned out, Lance Cpl. Vrooman boarded a plane 10 days later for Kuwait , the same country where his father was deployed.
The junior Vrooman had a sudden introduction to the horrors of combat when he arrived at Camp Commando just days after the war started.
"My first experience in Kuwait was that as soon as I got off the bus from the airport, a missile landed about 150 yards from the bus," said the 21-year-old small computer specialist with Marine Wing Communications Squadron 48. "We immediately had to put on our MOPP gear (nuclear, biological, chemical protection garments) and spend our first moments in Kuwait in that stuff."
His father learned of his arrival two weeks later, but didn't know where in the combat zone his son was based.
"I was uncomfortable not knowing where my son was ," said Lt. Col. Vrooman, operations officer for 1st Force Service Support Group. "I didn't know exactly where he was for about a month and a half. We weren't able to communicate by e-mail at first because we didn't know each other's address.
"I was concerned he would be in danger,” Vrooman said, but added that he took comfort in knowing that “as a Marine, he had good training that could get him through.”
As a father and senior Marine, Vrooman extended advice to his son about his first deployment, but made sure to stay within Marine Corps guidelines.
"I can give him a certain perspective because I've been out here before, but when I give advice to him, it isn't any different than advice I would give to any other Marine," the senior Vrooman said. "My wife is always telling me to look out for him, but I had to weigh that carefully . …I can't interfere with the unit. I have to weigh and balance the fact that we are Marines and family members at the same time."
Lance Cpl. Vrooman also acknowledged some conflicts in their father-son versus Marine-Marine roles. "He is always bringing on parental-sounding advice like 'drink water,' 'wear your flak jacket,' 'be careful' or 'don't drive too fast,'" he said. "When he is giving me advice, I am taking it from my father, but also from a Marine officer.”
But the younger Vrooman said there are advantages, too. "Being out here with my father…gives me a beacon to look to as someone who has done this before. One of the Marines I work with out here said, 'It's nice for you to have someone out here that you can turn to who was put here (on the earth) to be there for you, to guide you through everything.'”
Lance Cpl. Vrooman, in his third year of service in the Marine Corps Reserves, followed in his father's footsteps by joining the Corps just a few days after graduating from high school.
"I had been around the Marine Corps my whole life," he said. "My going into the military wasn't just something I was ready for, but I was prepared for it. I had gotten used the military way of life my whole life."
"I think he appreciates me a little bit more after he went through boot camp," said Lt. Col. Vrooman. "He knew a little bit of what I had been through for the past 20 years."
Now that he's gone to war with his father, Lance Cpl. Vrooman knows even more of what his father has been through.
"We now have something between a father and son that most fathers and sons don't get to experience," said Lt. Col. Vrooman. "In the future we will be able to look back on this and appreciate the fact that we went through a war together."
http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/oct2003/profiles/pri100803a1.jpg
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Donald Vrooman (left) and Lance Cpl. Joshua Vrooman are a father and son deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lt. Col. Sheryl McConnell
http://www.defendamerica.mil/profiles/oct2003/pr100803a.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Lance Cpl. Joshua Vrooman and Lt. Col. Donald Vrooman
Father and Son Serve
Together for Iraqi Freedom
By U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Matthew Miller
CAMP IWO JIMA, Kuwait — When U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joshua Vrooman joined his mother and sister last March to say goodbye to his father, he wasn't sure when he'd see his dad again. The family had watched Lt. Col. Donald Vrooman deploy many times during his 24-year Marine Corps career.
As it turned out, Lance Cpl. Vrooman boarded a plane 10 days later for Kuwait , the same country where his father was deployed.
The junior Vrooman had a sudden introduction to the horrors of combat when he arrived at Camp Commando just days after the war started.
"My first experience in Kuwait was that as soon as I got off the bus from the airport, a missile landed about 150 yards from the bus," said the 21-year-old small computer specialist with Marine Wing Communications Squadron 48. "We immediately had to put on our MOPP gear (nuclear, biological, chemical protection garments) and spend our first moments in Kuwait in that stuff."
His father learned of his arrival two weeks later, but didn't know where in the combat zone his son was based.
"I was uncomfortable not knowing where my son was ," said Lt. Col. Vrooman, operations officer for 1st Force Service Support Group. "I didn't know exactly where he was for about a month and a half. We weren't able to communicate by e-mail at first because we didn't know each other's address.
"I was concerned he would be in danger,” Vrooman said, but added that he took comfort in knowing that “as a Marine, he had good training that could get him through.”
As a father and senior Marine, Vrooman extended advice to his son about his first deployment, but made sure to stay within Marine Corps guidelines.
"I can give him a certain perspective because I've been out here before, but when I give advice to him, it isn't any different than advice I would give to any other Marine," the senior Vrooman said. "My wife is always telling me to look out for him, but I had to weigh that carefully . …I can't interfere with the unit. I have to weigh and balance the fact that we are Marines and family members at the same time."
Lance Cpl. Vrooman also acknowledged some conflicts in their father-son versus Marine-Marine roles. "He is always bringing on parental-sounding advice like 'drink water,' 'wear your flak jacket,' 'be careful' or 'don't drive too fast,'" he said. "When he is giving me advice, I am taking it from my father, but also from a Marine officer.”
But the younger Vrooman said there are advantages, too. "Being out here with my father…gives me a beacon to look to as someone who has done this before. One of the Marines I work with out here said, 'It's nice for you to have someone out here that you can turn to who was put here (on the earth) to be there for you, to guide you through everything.'”
Lance Cpl. Vrooman, in his third year of service in the Marine Corps Reserves, followed in his father's footsteps by joining the Corps just a few days after graduating from high school.
"I had been around the Marine Corps my whole life," he said. "My going into the military wasn't just something I was ready for, but I was prepared for it. I had gotten used the military way of life my whole life."
"I think he appreciates me a little bit more after he went through boot camp," said Lt. Col. Vrooman. "He knew a little bit of what I had been through for the past 20 years."
Now that he's gone to war with his father, Lance Cpl. Vrooman knows even more of what his father has been through.
"We now have something between a father and son that most fathers and sons don't get to experience," said Lt. Col. Vrooman. "In the future we will be able to look back on this and appreciate the fact that we went through a war together."
http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/oct2003/profiles/pri100803a1.jpg
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Donald Vrooman (left) and Lance Cpl. Joshua Vrooman are a father and son deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lt. Col. Sheryl McConnell
http://www.defendamerica.mil/profiles/oct2003/pr100803a.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: