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thedrifter
09-07-06, 07:17 AM
900 Marines head to Iraq
September 07,2006
CHRIS MAZZOLINI
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Marine Corps Cpl. Jeremy Collins is going to have a hard slog through his deployment to Iraq, but his wife Elizabeth may have a more critical assignment.

She’s the one who has to take care of their six-week-old identical twins, Gavin and Hayden, while Collins is off fighting the good fight in al Anbar province for seven months.

Collins, who deployed Wednesday from Camp Lejeune with the rest of his unit, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, said he was happy he got to witness the birth of his sons before he departed, yet it made the yearning to stay home stronger. He spent Wednesday afternoon outside Goettge Memo-rial Field House aboard Camp Lejeune holding his sons as he waited for the buses to take them to the airport.

“I’m not as excited to go,” he said.

Elizabeth, cradling one of her sons, said it was going to be a challenge raising the newborns with her husband gone.

“My mom is going to help me,” she said. “But it makes it harder.”

About 900 Marines from 1/6 are deploying to Iraq in waves over the next few days. Their mission will be to conduct counterinsurgency operations and support the Iraqi Security Forces so that they can gain more of a grip over that volatile province.

“It’s a good challenge for us,” said Maj. Daniel Zappa, the battalion’s executive officer. “Our primary mission is providing security so the Iraqi Security Forces can take a larger role.”

Zappa, who deployed to Iraqi with the battalion in 2005 and served as a company commander, said the Marines are ready to make a difference in Iraq.

“It’s been a pleasure for me to get to know them, to admire their determination and their skill,” he said. “I’m just proud to be here, proud to be in 1/6. I’m glad we got this opportunity and look forward to coming back here in seven months.”

Many of the battalion’s grunts will be going to Iraq for the second time. Some will be embark-ing on their third deployment since 2001; the unit served in Afghanistan with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in 2004.

Collins, who’s heading to Iraq for the second time, said the second deployment is easier in one respect because he knows what to expect. Then again, he’s in more of a leadership position this time, and he said it’s his job to be a good example for the younger Marines, especially those guys on their first tour.

But other Marines are deploying for the first time. Brittany Sharkey, the wife of Pfc. Cory Sharkey of Newark, Ohio, said she doesn’t really know what to expect.

“It’s horrible,” she said. “It’s just hard not knowing what he’s doing or where he’s at. That’s the thing that bothers me. I know he’ll be okay, it’s the seven months of being apart.”

That separation began Wednesday when the five charter buses pulled up. Families hugged their sons or husbands, and then stood silently, some waving, others wiping away tears, as the buses drove away.

Contact staff writer Chris Mazzolini at cmazzolini@freedomenc.com or 353-1171, ext. 229.