thedrifter
12-22-05, 07:40 AM
Home for the holidays
BY JOAN CARREON
Times Correspondent
LANSING | It has been two years since Lance Cpl. Ryan Hensley and his best friend, Lance Cpl. John Aylmer, have been home for the holidays.
This year, the two Lansing Marines are relishing the chance to be at home with their families for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both recently returned home after a seven-month tour of duty in Iraq.
With Christmas just a few days away, Aylmer said he especially looks forward to the home-cooked meals and to "seeing everybody."
For Hensley, the best part about being home for the holidays is "being with my family."
Both men spent part of Wednesday talking to second- and fifth-grade students at Oak Glen Elementary School about being in the service.
They answered questions about the types of weapons they use and the meals they eat, about whether there are girls in the military, and about why they enlisted.
Aylmer and Hensley, both 20, joined the U.S. Marine Corps when they were 18 years old. Aylmer's neighbor, Lance Cpl. Phil Martini, who also is a Thornton Fractional South High School graduate, also joined the Marines.
Hensley said he enlisted because he "needed some direction."
"I wasn't really doing anything. I wasn't going to school," he said.
Aylmer said he wanted to be a soldier since he was in seventh-grade at Heritage Middle School.
"I was always running around in camouflage," he said, adding he also watched a lot of war movies as a young boy. His father is a Vietnam War veteran.
Aylmer and Hensley have been friends since their sophomore year at Thornton Fractional South High. Both went to boot camp together in San Diego.
Aylmer currently is a rifleman with Kilo Company in the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines. Hensley is a machine gunner with Alpha Company in the First Battalion, Seventh Marines. They are stationed at different California bases.
The two friends talk two or three times each week and spend time together on weekends.
Aylmer will head back to Iraq in January. Hensley will return to California in January and leave for Iraq in March.
The two are among six Lansing Marines the Oak Glen PTA and students have "adopted." They sent them cards, letters, and care packages during their time abroad. All six hometown Marines are Thornton Fractional South graduates.
Hensley attended Oak Glen and his mother, Jane, is a former Lansing Elementary District 158 School Board member. Aylmer's mother teaches at his former middle school.
Retired Oak Glen teacher Linda Vaznonis, who was helping out at the school, was glad she got the chance to see Hensley, one of her former students.
"He hasn't changed one bit," she said with a smile. "All I remember is his red hair and freckles."
Ellie
BY JOAN CARREON
Times Correspondent
LANSING | It has been two years since Lance Cpl. Ryan Hensley and his best friend, Lance Cpl. John Aylmer, have been home for the holidays.
This year, the two Lansing Marines are relishing the chance to be at home with their families for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both recently returned home after a seven-month tour of duty in Iraq.
With Christmas just a few days away, Aylmer said he especially looks forward to the home-cooked meals and to "seeing everybody."
For Hensley, the best part about being home for the holidays is "being with my family."
Both men spent part of Wednesday talking to second- and fifth-grade students at Oak Glen Elementary School about being in the service.
They answered questions about the types of weapons they use and the meals they eat, about whether there are girls in the military, and about why they enlisted.
Aylmer and Hensley, both 20, joined the U.S. Marine Corps when they were 18 years old. Aylmer's neighbor, Lance Cpl. Phil Martini, who also is a Thornton Fractional South High School graduate, also joined the Marines.
Hensley said he enlisted because he "needed some direction."
"I wasn't really doing anything. I wasn't going to school," he said.
Aylmer said he wanted to be a soldier since he was in seventh-grade at Heritage Middle School.
"I was always running around in camouflage," he said, adding he also watched a lot of war movies as a young boy. His father is a Vietnam War veteran.
Aylmer and Hensley have been friends since their sophomore year at Thornton Fractional South High. Both went to boot camp together in San Diego.
Aylmer currently is a rifleman with Kilo Company in the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines. Hensley is a machine gunner with Alpha Company in the First Battalion, Seventh Marines. They are stationed at different California bases.
The two friends talk two or three times each week and spend time together on weekends.
Aylmer will head back to Iraq in January. Hensley will return to California in January and leave for Iraq in March.
The two are among six Lansing Marines the Oak Glen PTA and students have "adopted." They sent them cards, letters, and care packages during their time abroad. All six hometown Marines are Thornton Fractional South graduates.
Hensley attended Oak Glen and his mother, Jane, is a former Lansing Elementary District 158 School Board member. Aylmer's mother teaches at his former middle school.
Retired Oak Glen teacher Linda Vaznonis, who was helping out at the school, was glad she got the chance to see Hensley, one of her former students.
"He hasn't changed one bit," she said with a smile. "All I remember is his red hair and freckles."
Ellie