thedrifter
10-02-06, 07:44 AM
Local journalist will join Marines in Iraq
By ANDREW LUBIN
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE
This weekend, I leave for three weeks in Iraq. I'll be embedded with the Marines of Regimental Combat Team -5 ( RCT-5). I'll report on them as they live and fight in Fallujah, Ramadi, and some of the forward operating bases by the Syrian border.
The daytime temperatures still are 100 degrees plus, with constant sandstorms, attacks, and gun battles.
I expect my venture with the Marines to be fascinating and enlightening. From watching the news, it's hard to determine if we're fighting a war on terror; are involved in a civil war, or we're trying to keep order in a country descending into chaos.
I'm a writer who has chosen to chronicle the stories of our amazing young men and women as they live and fight in some remarkably ugly conditions.
Young men and women from Bucks County continue to volunteer for the Marine Corps and willingly deploy overseas. I've got a video camera, a digital camera, a couple pads of paper, and my old pair of Boondockers — I'm “good to go.”
I was in Beirut this past July covering the evacuation of Americans from Lebanon, but this trip is different. That was pre-war; this is a real war.
I will bring gear I can carry easily. The Marines tell me I must wear body armor. The trick to packing a flak jacket is to remove the armor plates so the flak rolls up smaller.
Fitness is important, as is knowledge of combat first-aid. If I'm in a convoy that is attacked and the Marine next to me is wounded, I need to be ready to help.
This will be quite a trip.
In a few days: From Camp Fallujah.
Andrew Lubin is an author and journalist who lives in Morrisville and writes on international relations and the military for newspapers and magazines nationwide. He has appeared on FOX, ABC, CNN, and Patriot Media, and was recently embedded to cover the evacuation of Americans from Lebanon. Lubin is the author of “Charlie Battery; A Marine Artillery Battery in Iraq.” He can be reached on the Web at www.andrewlubin.com.
October 2, 2006 6:47 AM
Ellie
By ANDREW LUBIN
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE
This weekend, I leave for three weeks in Iraq. I'll be embedded with the Marines of Regimental Combat Team -5 ( RCT-5). I'll report on them as they live and fight in Fallujah, Ramadi, and some of the forward operating bases by the Syrian border.
The daytime temperatures still are 100 degrees plus, with constant sandstorms, attacks, and gun battles.
I expect my venture with the Marines to be fascinating and enlightening. From watching the news, it's hard to determine if we're fighting a war on terror; are involved in a civil war, or we're trying to keep order in a country descending into chaos.
I'm a writer who has chosen to chronicle the stories of our amazing young men and women as they live and fight in some remarkably ugly conditions.
Young men and women from Bucks County continue to volunteer for the Marine Corps and willingly deploy overseas. I've got a video camera, a digital camera, a couple pads of paper, and my old pair of Boondockers — I'm “good to go.”
I was in Beirut this past July covering the evacuation of Americans from Lebanon, but this trip is different. That was pre-war; this is a real war.
I will bring gear I can carry easily. The Marines tell me I must wear body armor. The trick to packing a flak jacket is to remove the armor plates so the flak rolls up smaller.
Fitness is important, as is knowledge of combat first-aid. If I'm in a convoy that is attacked and the Marine next to me is wounded, I need to be ready to help.
This will be quite a trip.
In a few days: From Camp Fallujah.
Andrew Lubin is an author and journalist who lives in Morrisville and writes on international relations and the military for newspapers and magazines nationwide. He has appeared on FOX, ABC, CNN, and Patriot Media, and was recently embedded to cover the evacuation of Americans from Lebanon. Lubin is the author of “Charlie Battery; A Marine Artillery Battery in Iraq.” He can be reached on the Web at www.andrewlubin.com.
October 2, 2006 6:47 AM
Ellie