thedrifter
02-27-06, 06:46 AM
Heart told Canton trustee to re-enlist in Marines
Reserve makes shift to military life; unit heads to Iraq
Catherine Jun / The Detroit News
February 27, 2006
CANTON TOWNSHIP -- With his shorn head poking out of a tailored suit, Todd Caccamo is a man in limbo, halfway to transforming from politician to Marine.
By fall, the township trustee will be outfitted in military-green fatigues, completing the transition, and will be leaving with his Reserve unit for Iraq.
After two years in politics, Caccamo, 33, re-enlisted in December, tugged by another call to duty that will take him into a battle much bigger and more costly than township squabbles over sign ordinances, a big blue furniture store and the fate of a municipal golf course.
As a corporal and vehicle commander of Weapons Company Unit, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, he will command six Marines under the 4th Mobile Strike Platoon into one of the most unpredictable and dangerous wars, where the enemy doesn't wear a uniform, and insurgents hiding in invisible corners are putting up a seemingly endless fight.
He says he is scared.
"Anyone who is not scared is either lying or crazy," he said.
But his decision to go back into uniform was one made with his heart.
"My priorities have always been God, country, Corps," said Caccamo. "It's the right thing to do."
He will leave his political stump as early as April 26 and head to California for desert warfare training. He will be deployed to Iraq at the end of the summer.
He will vacate his seat on the township board until he returns in the summer of 2007, leaving six members. It will still take four votes for measures to pass.
"I will be back -- there's no doubt in my mind -- and I'll pick up where I left off," he said.
Caccamo came from the auto industry and entered politics two years ago, and was instantly an upstart, determined to make changes: to pull local government out of local business and put citizen involvement into local politics.
His combative, no-holds-barred manner often riles some board members but has garnered him local supporters.
"I wish Todd all the luck in the world and godspeed home," said Andrea Moceri, 50, a nine-year resident of the township and coffee shop owner.
Caccamo's fearlessness in the face of confrontation may be what pushed him back into the Corps.
Since leaving the Reserves after six years of service in 1996 -- including nine months with Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm -- the soldier in him has stayed. The border on his license plate reads, "Once a Marine, always a Marine," and he signs all of his e-mails with "Semper Fi," the Marine Corps motto that means "Always Faithful."
In recent months, the platform manager at GE Plastics Automotive has juggled his job, trustee meetings and training at the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Perrysburg, Ohio.
In his home just blocks from the township administration building, Caccamo practices rapid reload techniques with an AR-15 rifle in his basement, yelling commands that can be heard from upstairs.
"I knew that when we got married, that this was part of the deal," said his wife, Kay Caccamo.
She says she does not let herself imagine the dangers her husband may face while sweeping homes for weapons or leading a convoy.
"I try not to think about it. I pretend he's guarding things," she added.
Caccamo talks openly about high casualties among Marines in Iraq, and says easily that he is preparing a will. But these are all standard preparations before going into a combat zone, he said.
"I plan on coming back," he said. "You don't win wars dying for your country; you make the other guy die for his."
You can reach Catherine Jun at (734) 462-2204 or cjun@detnews.com.
Ellie
Reserve makes shift to military life; unit heads to Iraq
Catherine Jun / The Detroit News
February 27, 2006
CANTON TOWNSHIP -- With his shorn head poking out of a tailored suit, Todd Caccamo is a man in limbo, halfway to transforming from politician to Marine.
By fall, the township trustee will be outfitted in military-green fatigues, completing the transition, and will be leaving with his Reserve unit for Iraq.
After two years in politics, Caccamo, 33, re-enlisted in December, tugged by another call to duty that will take him into a battle much bigger and more costly than township squabbles over sign ordinances, a big blue furniture store and the fate of a municipal golf course.
As a corporal and vehicle commander of Weapons Company Unit, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, he will command six Marines under the 4th Mobile Strike Platoon into one of the most unpredictable and dangerous wars, where the enemy doesn't wear a uniform, and insurgents hiding in invisible corners are putting up a seemingly endless fight.
He says he is scared.
"Anyone who is not scared is either lying or crazy," he said.
But his decision to go back into uniform was one made with his heart.
"My priorities have always been God, country, Corps," said Caccamo. "It's the right thing to do."
He will leave his political stump as early as April 26 and head to California for desert warfare training. He will be deployed to Iraq at the end of the summer.
He will vacate his seat on the township board until he returns in the summer of 2007, leaving six members. It will still take four votes for measures to pass.
"I will be back -- there's no doubt in my mind -- and I'll pick up where I left off," he said.
Caccamo came from the auto industry and entered politics two years ago, and was instantly an upstart, determined to make changes: to pull local government out of local business and put citizen involvement into local politics.
His combative, no-holds-barred manner often riles some board members but has garnered him local supporters.
"I wish Todd all the luck in the world and godspeed home," said Andrea Moceri, 50, a nine-year resident of the township and coffee shop owner.
Caccamo's fearlessness in the face of confrontation may be what pushed him back into the Corps.
Since leaving the Reserves after six years of service in 1996 -- including nine months with Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm -- the soldier in him has stayed. The border on his license plate reads, "Once a Marine, always a Marine," and he signs all of his e-mails with "Semper Fi," the Marine Corps motto that means "Always Faithful."
In recent months, the platform manager at GE Plastics Automotive has juggled his job, trustee meetings and training at the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Perrysburg, Ohio.
In his home just blocks from the township administration building, Caccamo practices rapid reload techniques with an AR-15 rifle in his basement, yelling commands that can be heard from upstairs.
"I knew that when we got married, that this was part of the deal," said his wife, Kay Caccamo.
She says she does not let herself imagine the dangers her husband may face while sweeping homes for weapons or leading a convoy.
"I try not to think about it. I pretend he's guarding things," she added.
Caccamo talks openly about high casualties among Marines in Iraq, and says easily that he is preparing a will. But these are all standard preparations before going into a combat zone, he said.
"I plan on coming back," he said. "You don't win wars dying for your country; you make the other guy die for his."
You can reach Catherine Jun at (734) 462-2204 or cjun@detnews.com.
Ellie