thedrifter
01-23-06, 05:45 PM
Marine unit departs for Iraq, many on third tour
By Angelica Martinez
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
11:59 a.m. January 23, 2006
MIRAMAR MARINE CORPS AIR STATION – For many of the 200 or so Marines and sailors scheduled to deploy early Monday to Iraq, it was business as usual.
But for Lance Cpl. Kathleen Price, it was different. This was her first deployment and her family wanted to wish her good luck and farewell on her mission.
"I'm proud and I'll worry about her," said her mother, Barbara Price of Tracy. "But, she's prepared me for this by talking to me a lot about it ahead of time and telling me what she's going to be doing."
The family has known for about a week that this would be her day to leave. Price's 13-year-old brother, Jonathan, and her grandparents, Esther and Bill Taber of Valley Springs in Calaveras County, also saw her off. Her father was the only one missing because he was at work, she said.
"This will be an experience she'll always remember," said Esther Taber.
Taber knows first hand. Her husband was a Marine during WWII at the same time she was an Army nurse, she said.
Despite the family's familiarity with departures, they still made the seven-hour or so drive from Tracy to Camp Pendleton to see Price off.
She and the fellow troops with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were preparing to depart to relieve their East Coast counterparts in Iraq. For many of the troops, it was their third deployment to Iraq.
The Marine Wing Support Group 37, 3rd MAW is the aviation combat element of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is assigned to security in Al Anbar Province for about 14 months, said Lt. Paul L. Croom.
They were bused from Camp Pendleton to Miramar, where they waited for their flight overseas.
Marine Sgt. Alicia Avellaneda was glad to have the extra time to spend with her new husband, Cpl. Alexander Avellaneda.
"I'm not ready for him to leave," she said.
The couple just got married on January 7. They may be assigned to the same base. But, in the meantime, she has to stay in Camp Pendleton.
The unit returned from its last deployment in February.
Angelica Martinez: (619) 293-1317; angelica.martinez@uniontrib.com
Ellie
By Angelica Martinez
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
11:59 a.m. January 23, 2006
MIRAMAR MARINE CORPS AIR STATION – For many of the 200 or so Marines and sailors scheduled to deploy early Monday to Iraq, it was business as usual.
But for Lance Cpl. Kathleen Price, it was different. This was her first deployment and her family wanted to wish her good luck and farewell on her mission.
"I'm proud and I'll worry about her," said her mother, Barbara Price of Tracy. "But, she's prepared me for this by talking to me a lot about it ahead of time and telling me what she's going to be doing."
The family has known for about a week that this would be her day to leave. Price's 13-year-old brother, Jonathan, and her grandparents, Esther and Bill Taber of Valley Springs in Calaveras County, also saw her off. Her father was the only one missing because he was at work, she said.
"This will be an experience she'll always remember," said Esther Taber.
Taber knows first hand. Her husband was a Marine during WWII at the same time she was an Army nurse, she said.
Despite the family's familiarity with departures, they still made the seven-hour or so drive from Tracy to Camp Pendleton to see Price off.
She and the fellow troops with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were preparing to depart to relieve their East Coast counterparts in Iraq. For many of the troops, it was their third deployment to Iraq.
The Marine Wing Support Group 37, 3rd MAW is the aviation combat element of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is assigned to security in Al Anbar Province for about 14 months, said Lt. Paul L. Croom.
They were bused from Camp Pendleton to Miramar, where they waited for their flight overseas.
Marine Sgt. Alicia Avellaneda was glad to have the extra time to spend with her new husband, Cpl. Alexander Avellaneda.
"I'm not ready for him to leave," she said.
The couple just got married on January 7. They may be assigned to the same base. But, in the meantime, she has to stay in Camp Pendleton.
The unit returned from its last deployment in February.
Angelica Martinez: (619) 293-1317; angelica.martinez@uniontrib.com
Ellie