thedrifter
10-14-03, 11:14 AM
A Marine's homecoming
By MELISSA WUJICK
Sun Staff Reporter
10/13/2003
A bright yellow ribbon, which can easily been seen from the road, is tied tightly around a large tree truck in the center of the front yard, forming an impeccable bow. It makes it hard to miss the pride and love that U.S. Marine Cpl. Sean Osborne's mother has for her son.
On Tuesday night, the 21-year-old Osborne returned to his family's home in Flagstaff after a 20-hour flight and 10 hot months of military service in Iraq.
"It's wonderful to have him home. It is like every Christmas morning all wrapped into one," said Tammy Osborne-Drake, Osborne's proud mother, while she and her son sat on the front porch with a warm cup of coffee in hand on Sunday morning. "I am really proud of the man he has become."
At the age of 13, shortly after his family moved to Flagstaff, Osborne told his mother that he wanted to be a Marine, Osborne-Drake said.
"It is something I have always wanted to do. Something I have always emulated. Something I wanted to be," Osborne said.
After graduating from Sinagua High School in 2000, Osborne fulfilled his dream by becoming a Marine. In the next few months, he will earn the title of sergeant, he said.
He was among the first group of Marines that were sent into Iraq and the last group that returned home.
When the troops first started their march to Baghdad, most of the Iraqi people were apprehensive and tended to keep their distance from the troops, he said.
Toward the end of his occupation in Iraq, Osborne said that many of the Iraqi people had warmed up to the troops.
"I think they were glad we were there," he said. "Where we were, they didn't want us to leave."
He was in charge of motor transportation, providing support to the 5th Marine Regiment, he said. Whatever the regiment needed -- fuel, water, bullets, causality bags, anything -- Osborne and his crew were there to supply it.
His mother said that she is very proud of the responsibilities the Marines trusted to her son's hands.
Osborne said "his Marines were pretty happy" and tried to keep their morale up most of the time.
"I think that everyone was focused on the task at hand," he said. "We all wanted to make it back alive."
Osborne-Drake said that, as a military mother, she understood her son was risking his life. She also understood that he was doing what made him happy and fighting for a worthy cause.
"I knew Sean was in God's hands. He always said that God has a plan for him," she said. "He did it because he didn't want us to have to do it."
Osborne-Drake, who spoke to her son only four times during his first six months is Iraq, said that she concentrated on what her son and the other soldiers were doing for humanity.
"I focused on what they were doing for those men, women and children," she said. "They had to help those people."
Now that Osborne is home, he said that he tries to avoid watching the news. He said that although there is a controversy about the war, he and his fellow Marines had an important job to do.
"Whether or not they found weapons of mass destruction, we did a good thing over there," he said.
Since returning home, Osborne is looking forward to the normalcy that he left behind 10 months ago.
"I am looking forward to getting back into the old swing of things," he said.
For Osborne, that means going to the U.S. Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton in California, where he works and lives.
Until he leaves on Wednesday, Osborne will soak up the cool breeze in Flagstaff with his family. It's far cry from the 137-degree weather and severe sandstorms that he left in the Middle East.
"It was hot, hot, real hot," he said. Osborne said that he even had to wear a thick MOP suit at most times but he had been heavily trained to deal with such situations.
He even recalls sleeping in gas masks. "You just didn't roll over," he said with a laugh.
Osborne and his family will celebrate his safe return in November, when his entire family joins him for Thanksgiving.
"We will really be thankful this Thanksgiving," his mother said
http://www.azdailysun.com/images/news_photos/10-13-2003/full/101203flagmarinees.jpg
Erika Schultz/Arizona Daily Sun U.S. Marine Cpl. Sean Osborne returned to his Flagstaff home on Tuesday from Iraq. He will be promoted to a Sergeant within the next couple of months. To order this photo, go to http://photos.azdailysun.com
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=74850
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
By MELISSA WUJICK
Sun Staff Reporter
10/13/2003
A bright yellow ribbon, which can easily been seen from the road, is tied tightly around a large tree truck in the center of the front yard, forming an impeccable bow. It makes it hard to miss the pride and love that U.S. Marine Cpl. Sean Osborne's mother has for her son.
On Tuesday night, the 21-year-old Osborne returned to his family's home in Flagstaff after a 20-hour flight and 10 hot months of military service in Iraq.
"It's wonderful to have him home. It is like every Christmas morning all wrapped into one," said Tammy Osborne-Drake, Osborne's proud mother, while she and her son sat on the front porch with a warm cup of coffee in hand on Sunday morning. "I am really proud of the man he has become."
At the age of 13, shortly after his family moved to Flagstaff, Osborne told his mother that he wanted to be a Marine, Osborne-Drake said.
"It is something I have always wanted to do. Something I have always emulated. Something I wanted to be," Osborne said.
After graduating from Sinagua High School in 2000, Osborne fulfilled his dream by becoming a Marine. In the next few months, he will earn the title of sergeant, he said.
He was among the first group of Marines that were sent into Iraq and the last group that returned home.
When the troops first started their march to Baghdad, most of the Iraqi people were apprehensive and tended to keep their distance from the troops, he said.
Toward the end of his occupation in Iraq, Osborne said that many of the Iraqi people had warmed up to the troops.
"I think they were glad we were there," he said. "Where we were, they didn't want us to leave."
He was in charge of motor transportation, providing support to the 5th Marine Regiment, he said. Whatever the regiment needed -- fuel, water, bullets, causality bags, anything -- Osborne and his crew were there to supply it.
His mother said that she is very proud of the responsibilities the Marines trusted to her son's hands.
Osborne said "his Marines were pretty happy" and tried to keep their morale up most of the time.
"I think that everyone was focused on the task at hand," he said. "We all wanted to make it back alive."
Osborne-Drake said that, as a military mother, she understood her son was risking his life. She also understood that he was doing what made him happy and fighting for a worthy cause.
"I knew Sean was in God's hands. He always said that God has a plan for him," she said. "He did it because he didn't want us to have to do it."
Osborne-Drake, who spoke to her son only four times during his first six months is Iraq, said that she concentrated on what her son and the other soldiers were doing for humanity.
"I focused on what they were doing for those men, women and children," she said. "They had to help those people."
Now that Osborne is home, he said that he tries to avoid watching the news. He said that although there is a controversy about the war, he and his fellow Marines had an important job to do.
"Whether or not they found weapons of mass destruction, we did a good thing over there," he said.
Since returning home, Osborne is looking forward to the normalcy that he left behind 10 months ago.
"I am looking forward to getting back into the old swing of things," he said.
For Osborne, that means going to the U.S. Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton in California, where he works and lives.
Until he leaves on Wednesday, Osborne will soak up the cool breeze in Flagstaff with his family. It's far cry from the 137-degree weather and severe sandstorms that he left in the Middle East.
"It was hot, hot, real hot," he said. Osborne said that he even had to wear a thick MOP suit at most times but he had been heavily trained to deal with such situations.
He even recalls sleeping in gas masks. "You just didn't roll over," he said with a laugh.
Osborne and his family will celebrate his safe return in November, when his entire family joins him for Thanksgiving.
"We will really be thankful this Thanksgiving," his mother said
http://www.azdailysun.com/images/news_photos/10-13-2003/full/101203flagmarinees.jpg
Erika Schultz/Arizona Daily Sun U.S. Marine Cpl. Sean Osborne returned to his Flagstaff home on Tuesday from Iraq. He will be promoted to a Sergeant within the next couple of months. To order this photo, go to http://photos.azdailysun.com
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=74850
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: