thedrifter
04-30-06, 12:11 PM
Guard unit here leaves for California, then Iraq
By Kim Bell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/29/2006
(FIELDER WILLIAMS STRAIN/P-D)
BRIDGETON
After spending most of the night finishing a college term paper for his philosophy class, Dan Schafer shouldered an M-16 rifle, hoisted 60 pounds of military gear onto his back and waited to board a plane Saturday morning at Lambert Field.
Schafer, 21, was headed to California for a month for intensive urban-warfare training, then to Iraq for his first combat mission as a Marine.
"My grandfather was in World War II at Iwo Jima, and that kind of pushed me," said Schafer, a Marine lance corporal from Affton and a student at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
Schafer was among 385 Marine reservists who left Lambert Field in three waves Saturday. Most were from the St. Louis-based 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines; a handful were from the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines in Chicago.
Sporting the freshly cut "high and tight" traditional Marine Corps haircuts, they gathered in Lambert's Air National Guard Base to check out weapons and get last-minute touch-ups on gear before heading out.
They will be in Iraq about seven months, coming home early next year.
For about seven of every 10 reservists in this group, the deployment is their first. The rest volunteered to go again.
Lukas Bell, 21, of Altamont, Ill., lays flooring tile when he's not training or fighting for the Marines. He served in Iraq for seven months in 2004, standing guard over the Abu Ghraib prison. He said it was an easy decision to return to Iraq.
"I didn't join the Marine Corps to lay tile," Bell said. "When else will you get a chance to do this? I enjoy it."
The Marines' family members were not at the Air Guard base; they had said their goodbyes at home.
Cpl. Matt Chiarelli said his family was nervous about his return to Iraq but supportive of his decision to go. He spent a year in Iraq in 2004, and has been working funeral support for the Marines in St. Louis since October.
The funeral experience affected him, he said, but "almost in a positive way." "It's sad to see a fallen Marine, but it makes you proud that they're willing to do the job that needs to be done," said Chiarelli, 23, of Creve Coeur.
First-timers among the reservists peppered those who had been in Iraq with questions about what to bring, what to expect. The Marines talked about the dry heat of 126-degree days and speculated on how much the Iraqi security forces may have improved since last year.
Chiarelli told the new ones to bring items not on the official list, such as handheld video games or something to keep them busy. Schafer, the Affton college student, said he hopes a relative can find a way to ship his guitar to him, once he's established in Iraq.
As they waited, a few Marines took turns reading a well-worn weapons manual, while others chatted or listened to portable music players. Then, before heading out, they listened in rapt silence as Lt. Col. Gary Johnston spoke in a booming voice about what lies ahead.
"That weapon should never leave your body," Johnston said. "Make sure you're not taken by surprise. Look for the unexpected. That's the kind of mind-set you need to be in."
Ellie
By Kim Bell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/29/2006
(FIELDER WILLIAMS STRAIN/P-D)
BRIDGETON
After spending most of the night finishing a college term paper for his philosophy class, Dan Schafer shouldered an M-16 rifle, hoisted 60 pounds of military gear onto his back and waited to board a plane Saturday morning at Lambert Field.
Schafer, 21, was headed to California for a month for intensive urban-warfare training, then to Iraq for his first combat mission as a Marine.
"My grandfather was in World War II at Iwo Jima, and that kind of pushed me," said Schafer, a Marine lance corporal from Affton and a student at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
Schafer was among 385 Marine reservists who left Lambert Field in three waves Saturday. Most were from the St. Louis-based 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines; a handful were from the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines in Chicago.
Sporting the freshly cut "high and tight" traditional Marine Corps haircuts, they gathered in Lambert's Air National Guard Base to check out weapons and get last-minute touch-ups on gear before heading out.
They will be in Iraq about seven months, coming home early next year.
For about seven of every 10 reservists in this group, the deployment is their first. The rest volunteered to go again.
Lukas Bell, 21, of Altamont, Ill., lays flooring tile when he's not training or fighting for the Marines. He served in Iraq for seven months in 2004, standing guard over the Abu Ghraib prison. He said it was an easy decision to return to Iraq.
"I didn't join the Marine Corps to lay tile," Bell said. "When else will you get a chance to do this? I enjoy it."
The Marines' family members were not at the Air Guard base; they had said their goodbyes at home.
Cpl. Matt Chiarelli said his family was nervous about his return to Iraq but supportive of his decision to go. He spent a year in Iraq in 2004, and has been working funeral support for the Marines in St. Louis since October.
The funeral experience affected him, he said, but "almost in a positive way." "It's sad to see a fallen Marine, but it makes you proud that they're willing to do the job that needs to be done," said Chiarelli, 23, of Creve Coeur.
First-timers among the reservists peppered those who had been in Iraq with questions about what to bring, what to expect. The Marines talked about the dry heat of 126-degree days and speculated on how much the Iraqi security forces may have improved since last year.
Chiarelli told the new ones to bring items not on the official list, such as handheld video games or something to keep them busy. Schafer, the Affton college student, said he hopes a relative can find a way to ship his guitar to him, once he's established in Iraq.
As they waited, a few Marines took turns reading a well-worn weapons manual, while others chatted or listened to portable music players. Then, before heading out, they listened in rapt silence as Lt. Col. Gary Johnston spoke in a booming voice about what lies ahead.
"That weapon should never leave your body," Johnston said. "Make sure you're not taken by surprise. Look for the unexpected. That's the kind of mind-set you need to be in."
Ellie