thedrifter
05-10-06, 06:11 AM
Local News
Wednesday, May 10, 2006; Posted: 11:15 a.m. EDT
Brothers together in fight on terrorism
BY CHRIS HUGHES | COMMUNITY PRESS INTERN
John Hummeldorf will soon be thrust into one of the most dangerous regions on the planet.
And his younger brother, Mark, has already been there.
"I'll never forget the first dead body I saw," said Mark Hummeldorf, 22. "A dead Iraqi man was laying in the street. His body was shot up. His leg was all the way up by his head. Dead bodies can get real twisted; it's not like the movies at all. I was standing over him and there were flies all over his face. The smell was horrible."
The Delhi Township brothers and Oak Hills High School graduates are Marines.
Lance Cpl. Mark Hummeldorf, a 2003 graduate, joined the Marines two months after high school graduation and has already completed a stint in Iraq.
"I guess I still felt the sting of 9/11," he said.
As a mortar man on the front lines during the push to take Fallujah in November 2004, Hummeldorf encountered some of the fiercest fighting seen among American troops since the invasion of Iraq.
From the onset of the offensive, Hummeldorf's unit was under intense enemy fire that carried well into the second day.
"I was just thinking this is my last day," he
That day, Nov. 9, was his fiancée's birthday and Hummeldorf was half-a-world away, pressed down sideways in a six-inch groove on the ground, choking on rocky sand and pinned under crossfire.
"I'm not sure how I survived," Mark said.
"Bullets were going everywhere, it was intense," he said. "When the bullets hit by you they sound like a firecracker. It was like a roll of never-ending firecrackers, but louder than the Fourth of July."
Today, Pfc. John Hummeldorf, 24, prepares to walk a similar line.
He joined the Marines on Oct. 31 and is currently training to be a combat engineer at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Mark Hummeldorf is also currently stationed at Camp Lejeune.
"I thought it would be a good thing to be together," said John Hummeldorf. "Being Marines brings you closer together ... It bonds you more than just being a brother."
John will be transferred to Camp Pendleton, Calif., this June and fully expects to be sent to fight the war on terror in the near future.
He knows going to war will be tough, but he said his service will help protect the family and friends he left behind.
"My brother is a hero because he fought," said John Hummeldorf.
Soon, John Hummeldorf will have a chance to be one, too.
chhughes@communitypress.com
923-3111, ext. 223
Ellie
Wednesday, May 10, 2006; Posted: 11:15 a.m. EDT
Brothers together in fight on terrorism
BY CHRIS HUGHES | COMMUNITY PRESS INTERN
John Hummeldorf will soon be thrust into one of the most dangerous regions on the planet.
And his younger brother, Mark, has already been there.
"I'll never forget the first dead body I saw," said Mark Hummeldorf, 22. "A dead Iraqi man was laying in the street. His body was shot up. His leg was all the way up by his head. Dead bodies can get real twisted; it's not like the movies at all. I was standing over him and there were flies all over his face. The smell was horrible."
The Delhi Township brothers and Oak Hills High School graduates are Marines.
Lance Cpl. Mark Hummeldorf, a 2003 graduate, joined the Marines two months after high school graduation and has already completed a stint in Iraq.
"I guess I still felt the sting of 9/11," he said.
As a mortar man on the front lines during the push to take Fallujah in November 2004, Hummeldorf encountered some of the fiercest fighting seen among American troops since the invasion of Iraq.
From the onset of the offensive, Hummeldorf's unit was under intense enemy fire that carried well into the second day.
"I was just thinking this is my last day," he
That day, Nov. 9, was his fiancée's birthday and Hummeldorf was half-a-world away, pressed down sideways in a six-inch groove on the ground, choking on rocky sand and pinned under crossfire.
"I'm not sure how I survived," Mark said.
"Bullets were going everywhere, it was intense," he said. "When the bullets hit by you they sound like a firecracker. It was like a roll of never-ending firecrackers, but louder than the Fourth of July."
Today, Pfc. John Hummeldorf, 24, prepares to walk a similar line.
He joined the Marines on Oct. 31 and is currently training to be a combat engineer at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Mark Hummeldorf is also currently stationed at Camp Lejeune.
"I thought it would be a good thing to be together," said John Hummeldorf. "Being Marines brings you closer together ... It bonds you more than just being a brother."
John will be transferred to Camp Pendleton, Calif., this June and fully expects to be sent to fight the war on terror in the near future.
He knows going to war will be tough, but he said his service will help protect the family and friends he left behind.
"My brother is a hero because he fought," said John Hummeldorf.
Soon, John Hummeldorf will have a chance to be one, too.
chhughes@communitypress.com
923-3111, ext. 223
Ellie