thedrifter
12-23-02, 07:00 AM
By JAMI KUNZER
Shaw News Service
Damien Little wanted to be tough when he left Crystal Lake to become a Marine.
He was 18 years old, unhappy with college, not sure about his future.
Sept. 11 happened and Little ended up in Afghanistan. He found himself growing up quickly.
"I think I've learned more about life than anything else," he said, now 23 years old. "It just makes you appreciate life a little more, live day to day."
Little completed his four years of service as a corporal last month and made it home in time for Christmas.
He wants no presents, just a dinner with his family — his parents, Darrell and Marilyn, and sisters, 25-year-old Shauna and 27-year-old Kerri. Sitting at his kitchen table, he said he has yet to feel completely at home.
"It's weird," he said. "It hasn't really hit me."
His unit was the first to raise the American flag at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. He and his fellow Marines guarded the embassy and an air strip in Kandahar after Sept. 11. They slept on the floor, their sleep often interrupted by sporadic gunfire.
Little would search people at the gate, hunting for bombs and weapons. Mine fields dotted the country, he said.
The unit encountered only one skirmish, firing warnings at an enemy. Still, Little said he wondered whether he would make it home.
"The thought kind of crossed my mind," he said.
He took pictures with a disposable camera, creating a scrapbook as a symbolic reminder of what he went through. He knows future generations may wonder one day about the years he spent as a Marine, just as he did when he found his grandfather's Marine uniform hanging in a closet.
It was this find and his father's service as a U.S. Army veteran during the Vietnam War that inspired Little to sign up for the Marines.
"I'd do it again," he said.
His mother sent him letters, his father e-mails. They were proud, but worried. Darrell Little drove to his son's base in North Carolina last month to bring him home. The two grew closer having shared military experience.
Marilyn waited up in bed on the night they came home. She listened for the faintest sounds.
"I couldn't wait, actually," she said.
At about 4 a.m., she heard them and rushed downstairs.
"It was just a relief," she said. "It's always nice to have your son home."
Christmas will be like it used to be, she said. Though she missed Damien, she said the experience was positive for him.
"I think he's grown up," she said. "He's just turned into a nice young man. His manners are better. Hopefully, we instilled that in him. Obviously, the service did that even more."
On a visit earlier this year, Damien came home to "welcome home" signs along Route 14 and a party with 150 guests.
Friends and family called him a hero. The homecoming surprised him.
"I just feel like it was a job for me," he said. "I think I'm more proud of my country than me personally."
Americans rallied around those in the service. Little and his fellow marines felt supported, he said. They bonded and still keep in touch, Damien said. He finds himself closer to many of them than the friends he grew up with.
"It's a brotherhood," he said. "You put your lives in each other's hands."
Damien plans to work with his uncle at an electrical plant until January, then go to a community college before transferring to the University of Illinois in Champaign.
He had studied business for a semester before signing up for the Marines. Now he said he may become a personal fitness trainer or a photographer, or go into international business. Education means a lot more to him, he said.
"I'm not really a big desk person," he said.
Damien could still get called to active duty within the next four years. A war with Iraq would increase the odds of that happening, he said.
But he tries not to think about that.
"It's kind of a waste of time to worry about it," he said. "If it happens, it happens."
Sempers,
Roger
Shaw News Service
Damien Little wanted to be tough when he left Crystal Lake to become a Marine.
He was 18 years old, unhappy with college, not sure about his future.
Sept. 11 happened and Little ended up in Afghanistan. He found himself growing up quickly.
"I think I've learned more about life than anything else," he said, now 23 years old. "It just makes you appreciate life a little more, live day to day."
Little completed his four years of service as a corporal last month and made it home in time for Christmas.
He wants no presents, just a dinner with his family — his parents, Darrell and Marilyn, and sisters, 25-year-old Shauna and 27-year-old Kerri. Sitting at his kitchen table, he said he has yet to feel completely at home.
"It's weird," he said. "It hasn't really hit me."
His unit was the first to raise the American flag at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. He and his fellow Marines guarded the embassy and an air strip in Kandahar after Sept. 11. They slept on the floor, their sleep often interrupted by sporadic gunfire.
Little would search people at the gate, hunting for bombs and weapons. Mine fields dotted the country, he said.
The unit encountered only one skirmish, firing warnings at an enemy. Still, Little said he wondered whether he would make it home.
"The thought kind of crossed my mind," he said.
He took pictures with a disposable camera, creating a scrapbook as a symbolic reminder of what he went through. He knows future generations may wonder one day about the years he spent as a Marine, just as he did when he found his grandfather's Marine uniform hanging in a closet.
It was this find and his father's service as a U.S. Army veteran during the Vietnam War that inspired Little to sign up for the Marines.
"I'd do it again," he said.
His mother sent him letters, his father e-mails. They were proud, but worried. Darrell Little drove to his son's base in North Carolina last month to bring him home. The two grew closer having shared military experience.
Marilyn waited up in bed on the night they came home. She listened for the faintest sounds.
"I couldn't wait, actually," she said.
At about 4 a.m., she heard them and rushed downstairs.
"It was just a relief," she said. "It's always nice to have your son home."
Christmas will be like it used to be, she said. Though she missed Damien, she said the experience was positive for him.
"I think he's grown up," she said. "He's just turned into a nice young man. His manners are better. Hopefully, we instilled that in him. Obviously, the service did that even more."
On a visit earlier this year, Damien came home to "welcome home" signs along Route 14 and a party with 150 guests.
Friends and family called him a hero. The homecoming surprised him.
"I just feel like it was a job for me," he said. "I think I'm more proud of my country than me personally."
Americans rallied around those in the service. Little and his fellow marines felt supported, he said. They bonded and still keep in touch, Damien said. He finds himself closer to many of them than the friends he grew up with.
"It's a brotherhood," he said. "You put your lives in each other's hands."
Damien plans to work with his uncle at an electrical plant until January, then go to a community college before transferring to the University of Illinois in Champaign.
He had studied business for a semester before signing up for the Marines. Now he said he may become a personal fitness trainer or a photographer, or go into international business. Education means a lot more to him, he said.
"I'm not really a big desk person," he said.
Damien could still get called to active duty within the next four years. A war with Iraq would increase the odds of that happening, he said.
But he tries not to think about that.
"It's kind of a waste of time to worry about it," he said. "If it happens, it happens."
Sempers,
Roger