thedrifter
09-01-05, 07:06 AM
Koloc ready to defend America in Iraq
By Todd Moen
Editor
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 11:43 AM CDT
It can be hard for parents to remember the exact moment when they realize their child is no longer a little kid.
For Dawn and Terry Koloc of Norwood Young America, however, that's not the case. An experience earlier this year provided plenty of proof that their son, Drew, was definitely no longer a child but a responsible, respected young man.
"Drew had joined the United States Marine Corps as a senior in high school and he graduated from boot camp in San Diego last January," Terry said. "We flew out to see him after boot camp. He met us in the airport. He was all decked out in his fatigues and everything. As we walked through the airport, the most amazing thing happened.
"All these people came up to him and thanked him and shook his hand," Terry recalled. "There were these old gentlemen who all stood up and saluted him as we walked past. I don't really know what Drew thought of it ... but for me, he was still my little boy. He was only 18 at the time and he had just turned into a Marine.
"It's hard for me to put into words how it makes me feel," Terry said. "I hope Drew knows how proud I am of him."
After boot camp, Drew successfully completed the Infantry Machinegunner Course at the School of Infantry, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif., graduating in March 2005. Drew was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 7th Marines (or, to be more precise, the 3-7 H & S Gun Trucks) and after a recent visit home, the 19-year-old Marine returned to his company on Sunday, Aug. 21.
Drew leaves for a six month tour of duty in Iraq on Friday, Sept. 2. As a machine-gunner, Drew's job will be a dangerous one - he is assigned to protect his battalion's commander in Ar Ramadi, one of the many hot spots in Iraq.
"We're worried as hell," Dawn admitted. "I'm ready for him to come home and he hasn't really left yet."
Becoming a Marine
For Drew, joining the Marine Corps was something he had always envisioned for his future.
"I just knew that was what I wanted to do," said Drew, a 2004 graduate of Central High School. "I looked ahead in life and I wanted to be able to look back when I was older and say I served my time and did things that very few people get to do. If I had stayed around here, I knew my life would have gone in a different direction."
As a student at Central, Drew spent his time playing football, hanging out with friends and lifting weights. "I lifted a lot because I knew I wanted to be in shape to be ready for the challenges that lay ahead of me in the Marines," he said.
Drew actually signed up with the Marines during the middle of his senior year in December 2003. Both of Drew's grandfathers were in the service, one with the Army and one with the Navy.
While the decision to join the Marine Corps may have been an easy one for Drew, his parents couldn't help but feel a little anxious. "My dad was like, if that's what you really want to do, I'll stand behind you," Drew recalled. "My mom was like most moms ... worried but still supportive."
Although he chose to pursue his military dream, Drew had his options for life after high school. For example, he had a good job making good money doing landscape and excavation work and he even considered going to college to study landscaping, but the call to join the Marines was too strong to resist.
As for becoming a machine-gunner, Drew said he chose that line of work because it sounded like something he would enjoy.
"There are a million different courses you can take to have a career in the Marine Corps," Drew said. "I could have chosen any one of them but the one about machine-gunning sounded the most fun. I always knew I wanted to be a Marine and I knew I wanted to be in the infantry. You actually get to go out and do things."
A dangerous assignment
Once in Iraq, Drew will certainly have the opportunity to "go out and do things." For starters, Drew's expertise is machine guns.
"I do everything for the machine guns," he said. "I fix them, I clean them, I take them apart, I shoot them .... There are a million different things you can do as a machine-gunner. You can go on a boat, go on a helicopter or just be a ground pounder - that's what they call it. I'll be mounted on top of a humvee, protecting my battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Turner."
Drew admitted the job is a dangerous one but added that he is ready for the challenge.
"Everywhere he goes, we go and escort him," Drew explained. "You know how the president has Secret Service agents to protect him? That's kind of how it is for us. Lt. Col. Turner is our president. We make sure nothing happens to him."
As most parents would be, Dawn and Terry can't help but feel the same way they felt after Drew signed up - anxious.
"He's there to protect the trophy buck - the battalion commander. He's the one everyone wants to get, although every Marine has a bounty on his head as soon as they get over there," Terry said. "It's funny. You spend so many years telling your child to use his seat belt or to not run with a sucker in his mouth and now he's being sent off to war."
Dawn said the next eight months will be a challenging time for everyone in the family, from her and Terry on down to Drew's three younger sisters, Emily, Elizabeth and Lauren.
"It's just going to be so hard," Dawn said. "I've been talking to him two or three times a day for a while now. It was easy to know what he was doing. After he gets over there, I won't know what he's doing. I won't know what he's getting himself into. I won't know what they're feeding him or when I'll get to talk to him or send him a letter."
"You think of your boy leaving for eight months - that's hard enough," Terry said. "But after they leave, you think that might be the last time you see him alive ... I don't want to sound melodramatic, but you fear the worst. Kids have been going off to war for hundreds of years ... but it's different when it's your kid."
An honorable soldier
Of course, as evidenced by that experience at the airport in San Diego, Drew isn't a kid anymore. Drew himself has noticed the changes he's made regarding maturity and personal growth since becoming a Marine.
"I've grown up a lot in the past year," he said. "I used to run around and be stupid sometimes, but now I look back and I realize that's not me anymore. I feel a lot older than I really am - I'll be 20 in March. Every time I come home, my girlfriend tells me she has noticed how I have changed."
Drew's girlfriend isn't the only person who has noticed - his parents have, too.
"The day he enlisted was a turning point," said Terry. "He was like an entirely different person. Now, he doesn't complain like he might have before and he seems to appreciate everybody and every little thing. It's funny because he grew up telling us how bad he had it but after he got home from boot camp, he said we hadn't been hard enough."
Whatever lies in store for Drew, the entire Koloc family knows he will be ready to take care of himself.
"I know I have a dangerous position," Drew said. "Ar Ramadi is a hot spot and it's pretty crazy over there, but I'm pretty excited about being able to do my job and taking care of our people over there."
"I'm very, very proud of him," Dawn said. "I just want him to come home in one piece as the same old Drew. I don't want him to be affected by the horrors of something he might experience over there. But I know he'll do what he's told and do it honorably."
Before heading out of Norwood Young America, Drew thanked the community for standing by him.
"I have a lot of support in this town and I know everyone will continue to support me," he said. "I thank them."
€ If you'd like to contact Drew while he's in Iraq, send him a letter:
Pfc Koloc, Drew C.
3-7 H&S Company, GT
Unit 41575
SPO AP 96426-1575
Ellie
By Todd Moen
Editor
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 11:43 AM CDT
It can be hard for parents to remember the exact moment when they realize their child is no longer a little kid.
For Dawn and Terry Koloc of Norwood Young America, however, that's not the case. An experience earlier this year provided plenty of proof that their son, Drew, was definitely no longer a child but a responsible, respected young man.
"Drew had joined the United States Marine Corps as a senior in high school and he graduated from boot camp in San Diego last January," Terry said. "We flew out to see him after boot camp. He met us in the airport. He was all decked out in his fatigues and everything. As we walked through the airport, the most amazing thing happened.
"All these people came up to him and thanked him and shook his hand," Terry recalled. "There were these old gentlemen who all stood up and saluted him as we walked past. I don't really know what Drew thought of it ... but for me, he was still my little boy. He was only 18 at the time and he had just turned into a Marine.
"It's hard for me to put into words how it makes me feel," Terry said. "I hope Drew knows how proud I am of him."
After boot camp, Drew successfully completed the Infantry Machinegunner Course at the School of Infantry, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif., graduating in March 2005. Drew was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 7th Marines (or, to be more precise, the 3-7 H & S Gun Trucks) and after a recent visit home, the 19-year-old Marine returned to his company on Sunday, Aug. 21.
Drew leaves for a six month tour of duty in Iraq on Friday, Sept. 2. As a machine-gunner, Drew's job will be a dangerous one - he is assigned to protect his battalion's commander in Ar Ramadi, one of the many hot spots in Iraq.
"We're worried as hell," Dawn admitted. "I'm ready for him to come home and he hasn't really left yet."
Becoming a Marine
For Drew, joining the Marine Corps was something he had always envisioned for his future.
"I just knew that was what I wanted to do," said Drew, a 2004 graduate of Central High School. "I looked ahead in life and I wanted to be able to look back when I was older and say I served my time and did things that very few people get to do. If I had stayed around here, I knew my life would have gone in a different direction."
As a student at Central, Drew spent his time playing football, hanging out with friends and lifting weights. "I lifted a lot because I knew I wanted to be in shape to be ready for the challenges that lay ahead of me in the Marines," he said.
Drew actually signed up with the Marines during the middle of his senior year in December 2003. Both of Drew's grandfathers were in the service, one with the Army and one with the Navy.
While the decision to join the Marine Corps may have been an easy one for Drew, his parents couldn't help but feel a little anxious. "My dad was like, if that's what you really want to do, I'll stand behind you," Drew recalled. "My mom was like most moms ... worried but still supportive."
Although he chose to pursue his military dream, Drew had his options for life after high school. For example, he had a good job making good money doing landscape and excavation work and he even considered going to college to study landscaping, but the call to join the Marines was too strong to resist.
As for becoming a machine-gunner, Drew said he chose that line of work because it sounded like something he would enjoy.
"There are a million different courses you can take to have a career in the Marine Corps," Drew said. "I could have chosen any one of them but the one about machine-gunning sounded the most fun. I always knew I wanted to be a Marine and I knew I wanted to be in the infantry. You actually get to go out and do things."
A dangerous assignment
Once in Iraq, Drew will certainly have the opportunity to "go out and do things." For starters, Drew's expertise is machine guns.
"I do everything for the machine guns," he said. "I fix them, I clean them, I take them apart, I shoot them .... There are a million different things you can do as a machine-gunner. You can go on a boat, go on a helicopter or just be a ground pounder - that's what they call it. I'll be mounted on top of a humvee, protecting my battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Turner."
Drew admitted the job is a dangerous one but added that he is ready for the challenge.
"Everywhere he goes, we go and escort him," Drew explained. "You know how the president has Secret Service agents to protect him? That's kind of how it is for us. Lt. Col. Turner is our president. We make sure nothing happens to him."
As most parents would be, Dawn and Terry can't help but feel the same way they felt after Drew signed up - anxious.
"He's there to protect the trophy buck - the battalion commander. He's the one everyone wants to get, although every Marine has a bounty on his head as soon as they get over there," Terry said. "It's funny. You spend so many years telling your child to use his seat belt or to not run with a sucker in his mouth and now he's being sent off to war."
Dawn said the next eight months will be a challenging time for everyone in the family, from her and Terry on down to Drew's three younger sisters, Emily, Elizabeth and Lauren.
"It's just going to be so hard," Dawn said. "I've been talking to him two or three times a day for a while now. It was easy to know what he was doing. After he gets over there, I won't know what he's doing. I won't know what he's getting himself into. I won't know what they're feeding him or when I'll get to talk to him or send him a letter."
"You think of your boy leaving for eight months - that's hard enough," Terry said. "But after they leave, you think that might be the last time you see him alive ... I don't want to sound melodramatic, but you fear the worst. Kids have been going off to war for hundreds of years ... but it's different when it's your kid."
An honorable soldier
Of course, as evidenced by that experience at the airport in San Diego, Drew isn't a kid anymore. Drew himself has noticed the changes he's made regarding maturity and personal growth since becoming a Marine.
"I've grown up a lot in the past year," he said. "I used to run around and be stupid sometimes, but now I look back and I realize that's not me anymore. I feel a lot older than I really am - I'll be 20 in March. Every time I come home, my girlfriend tells me she has noticed how I have changed."
Drew's girlfriend isn't the only person who has noticed - his parents have, too.
"The day he enlisted was a turning point," said Terry. "He was like an entirely different person. Now, he doesn't complain like he might have before and he seems to appreciate everybody and every little thing. It's funny because he grew up telling us how bad he had it but after he got home from boot camp, he said we hadn't been hard enough."
Whatever lies in store for Drew, the entire Koloc family knows he will be ready to take care of himself.
"I know I have a dangerous position," Drew said. "Ar Ramadi is a hot spot and it's pretty crazy over there, but I'm pretty excited about being able to do my job and taking care of our people over there."
"I'm very, very proud of him," Dawn said. "I just want him to come home in one piece as the same old Drew. I don't want him to be affected by the horrors of something he might experience over there. But I know he'll do what he's told and do it honorably."
Before heading out of Norwood Young America, Drew thanked the community for standing by him.
"I have a lot of support in this town and I know everyone will continue to support me," he said. "I thank them."
€ If you'd like to contact Drew while he's in Iraq, send him a letter:
Pfc Koloc, Drew C.
3-7 H&S Company, GT
Unit 41575
SPO AP 96426-1575
Ellie