thedrifter
05-29-06, 08:18 AM
Marines' mom shores up homefront
'It is my turn to step up to the plate and do my part," she says
Monday, May 29, 2006
By ANDY KRAVETZ
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - For Patti Smith, Memorial Day used to be something else.
It was a day to remember America's fallen but it was also a day off work and a day to get chores done. She admits she was "unaffected."
Now, the North Peoria woman who has two sons serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, said the holiday is too solemn and too important for anything else but remembering.
"It is my turn to step up to the plate and do my part for America," she said last week. "At times I have wondered 'where have I been?' never seeing or being aware prior to my sons' enlistment of my indebtedness to our military."
To that end, the proud mother and her military support group has "adopted" a combat surgical hospital just north of Baghdad. She's sent care packages to her son's units and to others for the holidays or for just "whatever."
And she's become pen pals to Marines and GIs who don't get much mail. From one extreme to the other, Smith says it might seem like a bit much at times, but she's trying to make up for lost time.
"I owe so much to those who have paid the ultimate price for my freedom. I love America. I love her deeply," she said.
Smith always felt the United States was the best place to live, but not until sons Jesse, 26, and Josey, 23, enlisted in the Marines did she truly feel that love for country. And not until both of her boys were in Iraq, serving with infantry units this winter, did she truly get the sense of what Memorial Day means to her.
"Those were the hardest three months of my life," she remembers.
Lance Cpl. Josey Wenger was in Ramadi, a hot point for Sunni insurgents. Pfc. Jesse Wenger was, and still is, in Fallujah, a city equally as dangerous. Both brothers are infantry, meaning they were in the thick of things.
"My cell phone was on 24/7 and always at my side," as she waited for news from Iraq. The anxiety was constant and unrelenting.
So she threw herself into service. She and other members of Central Illinois Proud Families of Marines, or CIPFM, began to gather toiletries, candy, DVDs, batteries, magazines and other goodies.
They sent more than 200 packages to Josey's unit, and some 170 packages to Jesse's unit. Other Marine units have benefited from CIPFM's work as well, and even some non-Marine units.
The group adopted the 10th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad and another one just north of the capital in Balad. Those packages were just a bit different.
"We sent T-shirts, boxers, and pajama bottoms" in addition to the usual goodies, Smith said. "When the wounded come in, they often cut off all the clothes, and they have only paper shorts to wear."
Smith said many of the items were homemade, sewn by people in her support group. It's all part of her new way of thinking.
"It's therapeutic but there is also a sense of responsibility. I am in a place in my life right now where I can do something. I have the time, the resources and I found other people who feel the same way that I do," she said.
Besides, it helps on the nights when she misses her boys, one of whom is still in Iraq.
"I want to be with them as much as I can in spirit and this is how I do that," she said.
Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com.
'It is my turn to step up to the plate and do my part," she says
Monday, May 29, 2006
By ANDY KRAVETZ
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - For Patti Smith, Memorial Day used to be something else.
It was a day to remember America's fallen but it was also a day off work and a day to get chores done. She admits she was "unaffected."
Now, the North Peoria woman who has two sons serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, said the holiday is too solemn and too important for anything else but remembering.
"It is my turn to step up to the plate and do my part for America," she said last week. "At times I have wondered 'where have I been?' never seeing or being aware prior to my sons' enlistment of my indebtedness to our military."
To that end, the proud mother and her military support group has "adopted" a combat surgical hospital just north of Baghdad. She's sent care packages to her son's units and to others for the holidays or for just "whatever."
And she's become pen pals to Marines and GIs who don't get much mail. From one extreme to the other, Smith says it might seem like a bit much at times, but she's trying to make up for lost time.
"I owe so much to those who have paid the ultimate price for my freedom. I love America. I love her deeply," she said.
Smith always felt the United States was the best place to live, but not until sons Jesse, 26, and Josey, 23, enlisted in the Marines did she truly feel that love for country. And not until both of her boys were in Iraq, serving with infantry units this winter, did she truly get the sense of what Memorial Day means to her.
"Those were the hardest three months of my life," she remembers.
Lance Cpl. Josey Wenger was in Ramadi, a hot point for Sunni insurgents. Pfc. Jesse Wenger was, and still is, in Fallujah, a city equally as dangerous. Both brothers are infantry, meaning they were in the thick of things.
"My cell phone was on 24/7 and always at my side," as she waited for news from Iraq. The anxiety was constant and unrelenting.
So she threw herself into service. She and other members of Central Illinois Proud Families of Marines, or CIPFM, began to gather toiletries, candy, DVDs, batteries, magazines and other goodies.
They sent more than 200 packages to Josey's unit, and some 170 packages to Jesse's unit. Other Marine units have benefited from CIPFM's work as well, and even some non-Marine units.
The group adopted the 10th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad and another one just north of the capital in Balad. Those packages were just a bit different.
"We sent T-shirts, boxers, and pajama bottoms" in addition to the usual goodies, Smith said. "When the wounded come in, they often cut off all the clothes, and they have only paper shorts to wear."
Smith said many of the items were homemade, sewn by people in her support group. It's all part of her new way of thinking.
"It's therapeutic but there is also a sense of responsibility. I am in a place in my life right now where I can do something. I have the time, the resources and I found other people who feel the same way that I do," she said.
Besides, it helps on the nights when she misses her boys, one of whom is still in Iraq.
"I want to be with them as much as I can in spirit and this is how I do that," she said.
Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com.