thedrifter
11-27-05, 06:42 AM
Marines come to aid of Katrina victim mom who lost her son in Iraq
November 27,2005
BY CHRIS MAZZOLINI View stories by reporter
DAILY NEWS STAFF
y chris mazzolini
After Hurricane Katrina ripped through Kathleen Faircloth's home, the single woman in Mobile, Ala., desperately needed help.
So in came the Marines.
Faircloth happened to be the mother of Lance Cpl. Bradley Faircloth, a Marine with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines who died in November 2004 during the battle for Fallujah.
Faircloth had stayed in touch with many of the guys from her son's unit - 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1/8 - and when those Marines heard about the extensive damage Faircloth's home had suffered, they wanted to help the mother of their fallen comrade.
"I thought what a golden opportunity for us to do what we in 1/8 believe in: taking care of our own," said Maj. Lewis D. Vogler Jr., the battalion's executive officer. "I told those guys, 'If I can find us a way, we'll do it.' "
At the time, parts of Camp Lejeune's 1/8 were in Slidell, La., outside of New Orleans, aiding the post-Katrina relief effort. There was little chance of getting Faircloth the help she needed. All the choppers were booked.
But Vogler, who was working in the town's emergency operation centers, told one of the city employees the story of Faircloth and his mother.
"He says, 'Major, I just may have a way to get your Marines to Mobile," Vogler recalled.
A Slidell resident named Jan Stumpf volunteered to let the Marines use her private Gulfstream-Lear jet. Vogler took the matter to Lt. Col. J. Scott Alley, the battalion commander.
"We went through the whole shooting match, the whole check list," Alley said. "Really, the focus was: 'What can we do for her?' They really wanted to do it. I will say I was apprehensive until they showed back up."
The mission parameters were simple: Go in hard, fix Faircloth's home and get out - all in 36 hours.
That's exactly what they did. Sgt. Billy Leo, one of the Marines who went to Faircloth's home, said they landscaped, they shingled and made all the repairs in the allotted time.
They also got the chance to put a mother's mind at ease. Vogler said Faircloth asked the Marines, many of whom were there on her son's last day, to tell her how he died.
"I think mainly she just wanted to talk to us," Leo said.
"That maybe did more than what was actually done to her house," Alley said. "It gave her peace of mind. Closure."
Looking back, Vogler said he wasn't concerned about loading some of his Marines onto a little jet and flying them into another state.
"It was pretty extreme, pretty risky to take that jet out of there," he said. "The gains outweighed the risks, knowing it was a good thing to do. I don't really care. Bottom line is we got them there, fixed it, and got back."
Vogler, in many ways the plan's ringleader, said he had a few reasons for wanting to help. First and foremost, he wanted to take care of his own.
"I wanted it to happen because I believe this battalion is obligated to all the families of fallen Marines," he said. "This is the Beirut Battalion. We've got 200 Marines on that wall, and they are all my brothers. We are obligated to Faircloth."
The second reason, he said, is to rail against the stereotype of Marines.
"Here we are, a bunch of â?¦ warriors, we're not eating raw meat, we're not saying we're prima donnas," he said. "We've got compassion."
Finally, it's just a great story, he said.
"There's so many of those little human interest stories all over America," he said. "We're living one now."
And the Faircloth story doesn't end there. After a flood of donations, Faircloth's high school is going to erect a statue of him in April outside the school's football stadium. Faircloth's friends hope they can go to honor him and finally put him to rest.
"He was crazy," Leo said. "His nickname was 'The Barbarian.' He was a bull. He always wanted to be on point. He was a good Marine."
Contact staff writer Chris Mazzolini at cmazzolini@freedomenc.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 229.
Ellie
November 27,2005
BY CHRIS MAZZOLINI View stories by reporter
DAILY NEWS STAFF
y chris mazzolini
After Hurricane Katrina ripped through Kathleen Faircloth's home, the single woman in Mobile, Ala., desperately needed help.
So in came the Marines.
Faircloth happened to be the mother of Lance Cpl. Bradley Faircloth, a Marine with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines who died in November 2004 during the battle for Fallujah.
Faircloth had stayed in touch with many of the guys from her son's unit - 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1/8 - and when those Marines heard about the extensive damage Faircloth's home had suffered, they wanted to help the mother of their fallen comrade.
"I thought what a golden opportunity for us to do what we in 1/8 believe in: taking care of our own," said Maj. Lewis D. Vogler Jr., the battalion's executive officer. "I told those guys, 'If I can find us a way, we'll do it.' "
At the time, parts of Camp Lejeune's 1/8 were in Slidell, La., outside of New Orleans, aiding the post-Katrina relief effort. There was little chance of getting Faircloth the help she needed. All the choppers were booked.
But Vogler, who was working in the town's emergency operation centers, told one of the city employees the story of Faircloth and his mother.
"He says, 'Major, I just may have a way to get your Marines to Mobile," Vogler recalled.
A Slidell resident named Jan Stumpf volunteered to let the Marines use her private Gulfstream-Lear jet. Vogler took the matter to Lt. Col. J. Scott Alley, the battalion commander.
"We went through the whole shooting match, the whole check list," Alley said. "Really, the focus was: 'What can we do for her?' They really wanted to do it. I will say I was apprehensive until they showed back up."
The mission parameters were simple: Go in hard, fix Faircloth's home and get out - all in 36 hours.
That's exactly what they did. Sgt. Billy Leo, one of the Marines who went to Faircloth's home, said they landscaped, they shingled and made all the repairs in the allotted time.
They also got the chance to put a mother's mind at ease. Vogler said Faircloth asked the Marines, many of whom were there on her son's last day, to tell her how he died.
"I think mainly she just wanted to talk to us," Leo said.
"That maybe did more than what was actually done to her house," Alley said. "It gave her peace of mind. Closure."
Looking back, Vogler said he wasn't concerned about loading some of his Marines onto a little jet and flying them into another state.
"It was pretty extreme, pretty risky to take that jet out of there," he said. "The gains outweighed the risks, knowing it was a good thing to do. I don't really care. Bottom line is we got them there, fixed it, and got back."
Vogler, in many ways the plan's ringleader, said he had a few reasons for wanting to help. First and foremost, he wanted to take care of his own.
"I wanted it to happen because I believe this battalion is obligated to all the families of fallen Marines," he said. "This is the Beirut Battalion. We've got 200 Marines on that wall, and they are all my brothers. We are obligated to Faircloth."
The second reason, he said, is to rail against the stereotype of Marines.
"Here we are, a bunch of â?¦ warriors, we're not eating raw meat, we're not saying we're prima donnas," he said. "We've got compassion."
Finally, it's just a great story, he said.
"There's so many of those little human interest stories all over America," he said. "We're living one now."
And the Faircloth story doesn't end there. After a flood of donations, Faircloth's high school is going to erect a statue of him in April outside the school's football stadium. Faircloth's friends hope they can go to honor him and finally put him to rest.
"He was crazy," Leo said. "His nickname was 'The Barbarian.' He was a bull. He always wanted to be on point. He was a good Marine."
Contact staff writer Chris Mazzolini at cmazzolini@freedomenc.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 229.
Ellie