thedrifter
08-31-05, 07:21 AM
The Veteran Freshmen
Marines Wayne Norman and Brian Stokes prepare to start their football careers
Aug. 30, 2005
By Bryan Armen Graham
Assistant Editor, CSTV.com
Anybody who makes the sacrifice to play Division I college football will tell you that summers are no picnic.
Most members of the team at Appalachian State -- many still teenagers -- spent last summer training and conditioning to pursue their gridiron dreams. Two of their teammates, however, dealt with an infinitely more important task.
Wayne Norman and Brian Stokes are a pair of 26-year-old freshmen football players at the Boone, N.C., university who took two tours of duty in Iraq as members of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines.
Norman and Stokes served as TOW gunners, or anti-tank missile launchers, during the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. A subsequent deployment took them to the outskirts of Baghdad for seven months in 2004.
And this Saturday, less than a year removed from the nightmares of war, both will start their college football careers for the Mountaineers.
Eight years ago, both Norman and Stokes were preparing to start college following a pair of accomplished high school careers.
Stokes had been a standout fullback at Cummings High in Burlington, N.C., before attending East Carolina to play in 1997. His collegiate career was derailed before it started as he tore a tendon in his finger during the annual Purple-Gold scrimmage and missed the season.
Norman attended the University of Massachusetts for a year, opting not to play football after starting both ways at East Longmeadow High in Springfield, Mass.
With their football aspirations squarely in the rear-view mirror, both left school for paying jobs after a year. They joined the Marine Corps in November 2000 with the intention of retuning to college under the G.I. Bill following the requisite four-year service period.
After a stint at Parris Island, S.C. -- "for three wonderful months," Stokes quips -- both headed to Camp Geiger in Jacksonville, N.C., to attend the School of Infantry, where they met and immediately struck a friendship.
On the graduation day from Camp Geiger, both were sent to Camp Lejeune, where they would train one year for their first deployment. There, they ended up in the same unit, which, as Stokes notes, "doesn't happen very often."
After leaving the country on Aug. 27, 2003, their journey included a month in Kosovo, another month in Djibouti, a three-week stay in Kenya and a month in the United Arab Emirates -- the last stop scheduled in their deployment.
As Stokes and Norman headed back across the Atlantic toward home, the war in Iraq broke out -- and the boat turned around.
"We went into Iraq about two or three days after Shock and Awe," Norman says. "We didn't see much combat. Combat operations had already been declared over by our third week in country."
Says Stokes: "That first time, I only saw one shot fired at me."
After getting their gear together in Kuwait, Norman and Stokes returned to the States for seven or eight months before a follow-up deployment that would prove more perilous.
The friends spent the first three months in a town called Mahmudiyah, about 15 miles south of Baghdad. From there, they traveled to Fallujah just as action in the theater was intensifying, and spent several months there until a long-planned offensive was cancelled.
Both soldiers saw significantly more combat during their second tour.
"The first time I got ambushed was kind of a surreal feeling," Norman recollects. "You do all the training up to that point with blanks. You hear the gunfire, but you don't actually see tracers coming at you."
Stokes can also recall the first of many fire-fights in Fallujah. His unit was returning through a zone where, just prior, they had incurred heavy fire. During the trip, Stokes had to do what he describes as a "drive-by" -- kicking the truck door open with his foot and opening fire at a concealed enemy.
"I probably shot about 60 rounds in 30 seconds -- I was changing a magazine and pulling the trigger that fast," Stokes says. "There was pretty much a muzzle flash everywhere I looked, from behind every tree. I don't know how I didn't get hit. You don't have time to think what to do and what not to do, you just want to fire back."
While fire-fights were commonplace -- Stokes estimates he saw over 20 during his second tour -- mortar and rocket attacks were far more frequent, sometimes occurring two or three times a day.
Roadside bombs were another constant threat. Stokes, who lost some hearing during one attack and has since been nominated for the Purple Heart, says his team encountered around 30 of them.
Both Norman and Stokes returned to the States in October 2004 and are currently on inactive reserve. As Norman describes it, they could technically be called back to active duty should a big conflict arise or the military run short on troops.
The passage of time has provided both young men the time to reflect on their experiences. While neither is any rush to return to active duty, both acknowledge and miss the natural fraternity that occurs among comrades in arms.
"The camaraderie is the biggest thing you miss when you get out. The guys that you spend time with in the Marine Corps, you know them for four or five years depending on how long you stayed in," Norman said. "They were basically like brothers. You live so close to each other, especially when you're on deployment. Everyone knows everyone's stories. A lot of my friends that got out the same time I did, I keep in touch with. We have friends ranging from Texas, to New Hampshire, to Michigan and all around the country."
Stokes echoes Norman's sentiments, saying he often experiences entirely different ambushes from his old platoon buddies -- in the form of late-night phone calls.
"I have a friend in New York who'll just call us every time he hears a certain song on the radio, any dumb eighties song. He'll call and say, 'Hey, it's Pat Benatar!'," Stokes says, laughing. "And we're just like, 'Wow, man, thanks.'"
Stokes first considered returning to football -- or at least trying to play -- around the time of his first tour overseas.
As he put its, the dream didn't seem too realistic until his mother paid a visit to Appalachian State head coach Jerry Moore's office during his second deployment. When the coaches seemed receptive and enthusiastic about helping him resurrect a dormant football career, Stokes visited the idyllic campus upon his return.
"The people were really nice. That was something we hadn't really been used to lately: nice people," Stokes says with a smile.
It didn't take long for Stokes to convince Norman to visit the school and the coaches. The New England native had always planned on returning to college after his service, but admits he had planned on taking a little time off beforehand.
"But I figured, I might as well do it while I had the opportunity instead of sitting there and idling," Norman says.
It didn't take much training for the friends to realize the realities they faced in coming back to a sport they hadn't played in nearly a decade. Stokes, for one, found the initial training somewhat discouraging.
"I hadn't been near a gym. In Iraq, I had dropped from 200 to 175 pounds," Stokes says. "I lost 25 pounds I didn't really have to lose."
In the Marines, Stokes says he would hump 18 miles in a day with 120 pounds on his back at four miles per hour. For conditioning, they would run three miles and sing cadences.
"It's a different type of shape," he says. "Here, it's more cut drills and quick sprints. There's not a lot of time to catch your breath. It took a good four or five months before we were back up to where we thought we could compete legitimately with these guys."
Norman admits that some of his natural ability has faded with age, but his football instincts and nuances for the game have gradually returned.
"When I first got back on the field, I definitely felt like I was 26," he says. "But it's kind of muscle memory -- after about a month or two, you start to get it back a little bit. You're not going to regain the speed you lost, but you start to get back a little bit to the way you played before."
Norman, at 5-11 and 215 pounds, is listed as a running back. The 6-1, 220-pound Stokes -- who started at fullback in the Shrine Bowl in 1997 -- has since been converted from linebacker to defensive end to, now, tight end.
"It's a new position for me and I'm really liking it," he says.
Both rookies are excited for the season to get underway Sept. 3 against Eastern Kentucky.
"This Saturday's going to be great," Norman says. "I never even really dreamed of actually stepping out onto a college football stadium to play, so I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend."
Bryan Armen Graham is an Assistant Editor for CSTV.com.
Ellie
Marines Wayne Norman and Brian Stokes prepare to start their football careers
Aug. 30, 2005
By Bryan Armen Graham
Assistant Editor, CSTV.com
Anybody who makes the sacrifice to play Division I college football will tell you that summers are no picnic.
Most members of the team at Appalachian State -- many still teenagers -- spent last summer training and conditioning to pursue their gridiron dreams. Two of their teammates, however, dealt with an infinitely more important task.
Wayne Norman and Brian Stokes are a pair of 26-year-old freshmen football players at the Boone, N.C., university who took two tours of duty in Iraq as members of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines.
Norman and Stokes served as TOW gunners, or anti-tank missile launchers, during the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. A subsequent deployment took them to the outskirts of Baghdad for seven months in 2004.
And this Saturday, less than a year removed from the nightmares of war, both will start their college football careers for the Mountaineers.
Eight years ago, both Norman and Stokes were preparing to start college following a pair of accomplished high school careers.
Stokes had been a standout fullback at Cummings High in Burlington, N.C., before attending East Carolina to play in 1997. His collegiate career was derailed before it started as he tore a tendon in his finger during the annual Purple-Gold scrimmage and missed the season.
Norman attended the University of Massachusetts for a year, opting not to play football after starting both ways at East Longmeadow High in Springfield, Mass.
With their football aspirations squarely in the rear-view mirror, both left school for paying jobs after a year. They joined the Marine Corps in November 2000 with the intention of retuning to college under the G.I. Bill following the requisite four-year service period.
After a stint at Parris Island, S.C. -- "for three wonderful months," Stokes quips -- both headed to Camp Geiger in Jacksonville, N.C., to attend the School of Infantry, where they met and immediately struck a friendship.
On the graduation day from Camp Geiger, both were sent to Camp Lejeune, where they would train one year for their first deployment. There, they ended up in the same unit, which, as Stokes notes, "doesn't happen very often."
After leaving the country on Aug. 27, 2003, their journey included a month in Kosovo, another month in Djibouti, a three-week stay in Kenya and a month in the United Arab Emirates -- the last stop scheduled in their deployment.
As Stokes and Norman headed back across the Atlantic toward home, the war in Iraq broke out -- and the boat turned around.
"We went into Iraq about two or three days after Shock and Awe," Norman says. "We didn't see much combat. Combat operations had already been declared over by our third week in country."
Says Stokes: "That first time, I only saw one shot fired at me."
After getting their gear together in Kuwait, Norman and Stokes returned to the States for seven or eight months before a follow-up deployment that would prove more perilous.
The friends spent the first three months in a town called Mahmudiyah, about 15 miles south of Baghdad. From there, they traveled to Fallujah just as action in the theater was intensifying, and spent several months there until a long-planned offensive was cancelled.
Both soldiers saw significantly more combat during their second tour.
"The first time I got ambushed was kind of a surreal feeling," Norman recollects. "You do all the training up to that point with blanks. You hear the gunfire, but you don't actually see tracers coming at you."
Stokes can also recall the first of many fire-fights in Fallujah. His unit was returning through a zone where, just prior, they had incurred heavy fire. During the trip, Stokes had to do what he describes as a "drive-by" -- kicking the truck door open with his foot and opening fire at a concealed enemy.
"I probably shot about 60 rounds in 30 seconds -- I was changing a magazine and pulling the trigger that fast," Stokes says. "There was pretty much a muzzle flash everywhere I looked, from behind every tree. I don't know how I didn't get hit. You don't have time to think what to do and what not to do, you just want to fire back."
While fire-fights were commonplace -- Stokes estimates he saw over 20 during his second tour -- mortar and rocket attacks were far more frequent, sometimes occurring two or three times a day.
Roadside bombs were another constant threat. Stokes, who lost some hearing during one attack and has since been nominated for the Purple Heart, says his team encountered around 30 of them.
Both Norman and Stokes returned to the States in October 2004 and are currently on inactive reserve. As Norman describes it, they could technically be called back to active duty should a big conflict arise or the military run short on troops.
The passage of time has provided both young men the time to reflect on their experiences. While neither is any rush to return to active duty, both acknowledge and miss the natural fraternity that occurs among comrades in arms.
"The camaraderie is the biggest thing you miss when you get out. The guys that you spend time with in the Marine Corps, you know them for four or five years depending on how long you stayed in," Norman said. "They were basically like brothers. You live so close to each other, especially when you're on deployment. Everyone knows everyone's stories. A lot of my friends that got out the same time I did, I keep in touch with. We have friends ranging from Texas, to New Hampshire, to Michigan and all around the country."
Stokes echoes Norman's sentiments, saying he often experiences entirely different ambushes from his old platoon buddies -- in the form of late-night phone calls.
"I have a friend in New York who'll just call us every time he hears a certain song on the radio, any dumb eighties song. He'll call and say, 'Hey, it's Pat Benatar!'," Stokes says, laughing. "And we're just like, 'Wow, man, thanks.'"
Stokes first considered returning to football -- or at least trying to play -- around the time of his first tour overseas.
As he put its, the dream didn't seem too realistic until his mother paid a visit to Appalachian State head coach Jerry Moore's office during his second deployment. When the coaches seemed receptive and enthusiastic about helping him resurrect a dormant football career, Stokes visited the idyllic campus upon his return.
"The people were really nice. That was something we hadn't really been used to lately: nice people," Stokes says with a smile.
It didn't take long for Stokes to convince Norman to visit the school and the coaches. The New England native had always planned on returning to college after his service, but admits he had planned on taking a little time off beforehand.
"But I figured, I might as well do it while I had the opportunity instead of sitting there and idling," Norman says.
It didn't take much training for the friends to realize the realities they faced in coming back to a sport they hadn't played in nearly a decade. Stokes, for one, found the initial training somewhat discouraging.
"I hadn't been near a gym. In Iraq, I had dropped from 200 to 175 pounds," Stokes says. "I lost 25 pounds I didn't really have to lose."
In the Marines, Stokes says he would hump 18 miles in a day with 120 pounds on his back at four miles per hour. For conditioning, they would run three miles and sing cadences.
"It's a different type of shape," he says. "Here, it's more cut drills and quick sprints. There's not a lot of time to catch your breath. It took a good four or five months before we were back up to where we thought we could compete legitimately with these guys."
Norman admits that some of his natural ability has faded with age, but his football instincts and nuances for the game have gradually returned.
"When I first got back on the field, I definitely felt like I was 26," he says. "But it's kind of muscle memory -- after about a month or two, you start to get it back a little bit. You're not going to regain the speed you lost, but you start to get back a little bit to the way you played before."
Norman, at 5-11 and 215 pounds, is listed as a running back. The 6-1, 220-pound Stokes -- who started at fullback in the Shrine Bowl in 1997 -- has since been converted from linebacker to defensive end to, now, tight end.
"It's a new position for me and I'm really liking it," he says.
Both rookies are excited for the season to get underway Sept. 3 against Eastern Kentucky.
"This Saturday's going to be great," Norman says. "I never even really dreamed of actually stepping out onto a college football stadium to play, so I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend."
Bryan Armen Graham is an Assistant Editor for CSTV.com.
Ellie