thedrifter
11-12-06, 09:14 AM
The Four, The Proud
Newest U.S. Marines Are Classmates From Woodsville High
Story by Sonia Scherr
Photographs by Geoff Hansen
They've been best friends for just about as long as they can remember. Together, the four boys experienced the routines and milestones of growing up: They hung out at each others' houses, watched movies, celebrated birthdays, played paintball, participated in sports, hunted, went camping and learned to drive.
Yesterday, they were together once more -- this time marching in a Veterans Day parade through their hometown as new members of the U.S. Marine Corps. Eight days after graduating boot camp, the young men led a group of VFW members in a parade down Central Street as residents looked on. They wore olive-green “service alpha” uniforms used for formal occasions, with their rank insignia on their sleeves and shiny black shoes that caught the sunlight. Pinned to their coats were national defense ribbons to show they were serving during a time of war.
Straight-backed and serious, Pvt. Ben Elliott IV, Pfc. Nick Thompson and Pfc. Allen Young, all 18, and Pvt. James Brant, 19, walked with precision, the youngest of four generations represented in the parade of about 40 veterans. During a ceremony at the flagpole on Central Street, they gazed straight ahead -- their solemn expression never changing -- as a chaplain expressed his hope for peace, as they were introduced to enthusiastic applause, and as an Air Force veteran remembered his friend Terry Rehm, a skinny, redheaded kid from Pennsylvania who died in the Vietnam War.
It's a sense of duty that propels Americans, then and now, to serve their country, said the veteran, Dave Victor, a service officer for the American Legion in New Hampshire. “(Today) they don't have a draft hanging over their heads like we did,” told the crowd. “They go into the military because they volunteer for it.”
The four Marines, all of whom graduated from Woodsville High School in June, joined separately during their senior year. “It was a big chain reaction,” Elliott said.
Young enlisted first. “Ever since I was a little child I wanted to be a warrior,” he said in an interview at the Woodsville High School library, where all four Marines had just finished describing the rigors of boot camp to nearly 30 attentive students.
Young still considered college, visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. But he decided that he'd be bored there and that it wouldn't be worth the cost. The excitement of the Marine Corps appealed to him, along with the chance to learn new skills. He went to the Marines Web site and signed up to get more information. A recruiter got in touch.
Thompson had always wanted to be a pilot and thought he might do ROTC in college, he said. Then Young told him he was joining the Marines.
“I thought he was actually going to college,” said Thompson's mother, Robyn Prescott. “When he said he was going to have a recruiter coming from the Marine Corps, I was like, ‘Oh.' I was kind of shocked, and of course with the war still going I was a little scared. … (But) I didn't hold him back. If that’s what he wanted to do, fine. It was his (decision). I tried to be very supportive.”
Thompson said his late grandfather was a Marine. His mother said Thompson's older half-brother, Luke, served in the Air Force and died of cancer in 2002 at age 22. The two brothers had been close. “I think in some way he wanted some common bond to carry on,” she said.
Brant figured he'd go to college, though he had toyed with the possibility of joining the Marines. He liked the idea of belonging to an organization that enabled you to reach your potential, become highly trained and be part of a brotherhood, he said. Young called his recruiter, who called Brant, and they met in the library. Brant had already decided to join when he told his parents.
“After the shock, we just wanted to make sure he'd thought it through, (that) it wasn't just like, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do with my life?' ” said his mother, Mary Ann Brant. But when they sat down and discussed her son’s decision, she said, “It was obvious he’d really given it thought.”
Elliott said he'd considered joining a long time ago, but his parents wanted him to go to college. He went so far as to apply to colleges, but changed his mind. “I finally decided I wanted to do what I wanted to do,” he said.
His father, Ben Elliott III, said he wasn't disappointed. “We were going to support him no matter what he chose,” said his father, whose 26 years of military service has included deployments in both Iraq wars. When he thinks about the risks his son could face, “To be honest with you, it does scare me,” Elliott said. “But it comes with the job. All jobs have those inherent not nice things.”
The younger Elliott said he was also following the path of other members of his family who have served in the military, including his grandfather, Ben “Skip” Elliott Jr. of Woodsville, who was in the Marines from 1958 to 1962 and attended Elliott's graduation from boot camp.
And he hoped to get in better physical shape by joining the Marines. “I was a really heavy-set kid,” he said. “Another reason I wanted to join was to lose the weight, and I did.”
Elliott dropped from 245 to 195 pounds before he left for boot camp, and lost 34 more pounds at boot camp, he said. He had needed to lose some 25 pounds before he could even enlist, said his recruiter, Staff Sgt. Richard Thayer, who works out of the Lebanon recruiting office. Thayer said he helped Elliott manage his diet and develop an exercise regimen. “I'm so proud of Ben,” he said. “He showed so much heart. He made the commitment and decided to do it.”
In Thayer's two-plus years recruiting in Lebanon, it's the first time that four friends from one school have enlisted. “For four young men (to enlist) from such a small area in such a small school, it was a surprise. … It was unusual. It was special,” he said.
Guidance counselors at Woodsville High School said they believe it's the first time four students have joined under the buddy program, which assigns pairs of friends to the same platoon. Nonetheless, the percentage of graduating seniors at Woodsville High School who plan to join the military has increased in recent years, from 2 percent in 2003 to 7 percent in 2006, said Shauna Kimball, a guidance counselor at the high school. “I think it started with Sept. 11,” Kimball said. “I would say that was the beginning of the interest.”
The war in Iraq hasn't dampened it, she said. “They're more aware of the military as an option because that's so out there. That’s something you hear about all the time.”
About 10 children in Woodsville schools had parents who were deployed to Iraq for about a year as part of a Woodsville-based National Guard battery.
“I think it (the military) has more meaning for them,” guidance counselor Susan Clark said of Woodsville's students. “I think they might believe they can make a difference.”
Other reasons for enlisting may include the rising cost of college, which can seem especially daunting if students are facing loans or aren't sure if they want to attend. There are also limited post-secondary job opportunities in the Woodsville area, especially given the drop in manufacturing jobs after closures that included a paper mill in Ryegate, Vt., and a lumberyard where a Wal-Mart is planned, the guidance counselors said.
Young is the most outgoing of the four Marines; the other three are quieter. They often finish each other's thoughts. They'll likely be deployed within a year. They’re not sure where, though there’s a good chance they could go to Iraq or Afghanistan. Though they're aware of their parents’ concern for their safety -- “Our parents definitely took it (their enlistment) hard,” Young said -- the Marines said they know what they’re doing.
“It's something that crosses our mind, but, …” Thompson began.
“… It's our job,” Young finished.
“You can't be afraid of it. If we were afraid of it we wouldn't have joined the Marines,” Elliott said.
The young men trained for boot camp this summer with A.J. Flateau, their science teacher who graduated from Norwich University in 2003. They woke up early to swim, dive, run up to seven miles and do calisthenics such as push-ups and sit-ups.
“Their willingness to enlist at a time like this says something about them,” Flateau said.
During 13 weeks at boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., they experienced grueling physical training, including a final 10-mile fast-paced march while wearing their Kevlar helmets and carrying packs weighing 75 to 100 pounds. They also faced mental challenges, such as homesickness.
“You've pretty much been taken out of your comfort zone,” Thompson said. “You're not allowed to see your family or talk to them.” That meant no e-mails and, generally, no phone calls, though they could write letters.
The experience created an even tighter bond among the young men.
“It was something we all went through together,” Thompson said. “It brought us closer.”
Said Prescott: “I thought, you know, things happen for a reason. They've been friends since (they were) little boys, and how nice that they're going to do this together, because not only are they lifelong friends, but now they have another kind of brotherhood.”
The Marines' parents said it was comforting to know their sons were going through boot camp together.
“It was a good feeling that they had (each other),” said Anna Morse, Young's mother. “They had grown up together. You just felt that your child wasn't alone -- I shouldn’t call him a child anymore -- that your son wasn’t alone.”
On Tuesday, all four must report to Camp Geiger in North Carolina, where they'll receive additional training. Then their paths will diverge: Young will attend security force school at a Virginia base, Elliott will go to Alabama to learn how to dispose of bombs, and Thompson and Brant will go to aviation school in Pensacola, Fla.
But there was still time after the Veterans Day parade for photographs and light moments with family and friends, and to eat lunch inside the VFW with the veterans and their families.
Victor, the Air Force veteran who had spoken during the ceremony, said the four Marines reminded him of himself when he enlisted in 1960.
“The youth, their lives ahead of them, and yet they're headed off …” He looked at the Marines and never completed his sentence.
Ellie
Newest U.S. Marines Are Classmates From Woodsville High
Story by Sonia Scherr
Photographs by Geoff Hansen
They've been best friends for just about as long as they can remember. Together, the four boys experienced the routines and milestones of growing up: They hung out at each others' houses, watched movies, celebrated birthdays, played paintball, participated in sports, hunted, went camping and learned to drive.
Yesterday, they were together once more -- this time marching in a Veterans Day parade through their hometown as new members of the U.S. Marine Corps. Eight days after graduating boot camp, the young men led a group of VFW members in a parade down Central Street as residents looked on. They wore olive-green “service alpha” uniforms used for formal occasions, with their rank insignia on their sleeves and shiny black shoes that caught the sunlight. Pinned to their coats were national defense ribbons to show they were serving during a time of war.
Straight-backed and serious, Pvt. Ben Elliott IV, Pfc. Nick Thompson and Pfc. Allen Young, all 18, and Pvt. James Brant, 19, walked with precision, the youngest of four generations represented in the parade of about 40 veterans. During a ceremony at the flagpole on Central Street, they gazed straight ahead -- their solemn expression never changing -- as a chaplain expressed his hope for peace, as they were introduced to enthusiastic applause, and as an Air Force veteran remembered his friend Terry Rehm, a skinny, redheaded kid from Pennsylvania who died in the Vietnam War.
It's a sense of duty that propels Americans, then and now, to serve their country, said the veteran, Dave Victor, a service officer for the American Legion in New Hampshire. “(Today) they don't have a draft hanging over their heads like we did,” told the crowd. “They go into the military because they volunteer for it.”
The four Marines, all of whom graduated from Woodsville High School in June, joined separately during their senior year. “It was a big chain reaction,” Elliott said.
Young enlisted first. “Ever since I was a little child I wanted to be a warrior,” he said in an interview at the Woodsville High School library, where all four Marines had just finished describing the rigors of boot camp to nearly 30 attentive students.
Young still considered college, visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. But he decided that he'd be bored there and that it wouldn't be worth the cost. The excitement of the Marine Corps appealed to him, along with the chance to learn new skills. He went to the Marines Web site and signed up to get more information. A recruiter got in touch.
Thompson had always wanted to be a pilot and thought he might do ROTC in college, he said. Then Young told him he was joining the Marines.
“I thought he was actually going to college,” said Thompson's mother, Robyn Prescott. “When he said he was going to have a recruiter coming from the Marine Corps, I was like, ‘Oh.' I was kind of shocked, and of course with the war still going I was a little scared. … (But) I didn't hold him back. If that’s what he wanted to do, fine. It was his (decision). I tried to be very supportive.”
Thompson said his late grandfather was a Marine. His mother said Thompson's older half-brother, Luke, served in the Air Force and died of cancer in 2002 at age 22. The two brothers had been close. “I think in some way he wanted some common bond to carry on,” she said.
Brant figured he'd go to college, though he had toyed with the possibility of joining the Marines. He liked the idea of belonging to an organization that enabled you to reach your potential, become highly trained and be part of a brotherhood, he said. Young called his recruiter, who called Brant, and they met in the library. Brant had already decided to join when he told his parents.
“After the shock, we just wanted to make sure he'd thought it through, (that) it wasn't just like, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do with my life?' ” said his mother, Mary Ann Brant. But when they sat down and discussed her son’s decision, she said, “It was obvious he’d really given it thought.”
Elliott said he'd considered joining a long time ago, but his parents wanted him to go to college. He went so far as to apply to colleges, but changed his mind. “I finally decided I wanted to do what I wanted to do,” he said.
His father, Ben Elliott III, said he wasn't disappointed. “We were going to support him no matter what he chose,” said his father, whose 26 years of military service has included deployments in both Iraq wars. When he thinks about the risks his son could face, “To be honest with you, it does scare me,” Elliott said. “But it comes with the job. All jobs have those inherent not nice things.”
The younger Elliott said he was also following the path of other members of his family who have served in the military, including his grandfather, Ben “Skip” Elliott Jr. of Woodsville, who was in the Marines from 1958 to 1962 and attended Elliott's graduation from boot camp.
And he hoped to get in better physical shape by joining the Marines. “I was a really heavy-set kid,” he said. “Another reason I wanted to join was to lose the weight, and I did.”
Elliott dropped from 245 to 195 pounds before he left for boot camp, and lost 34 more pounds at boot camp, he said. He had needed to lose some 25 pounds before he could even enlist, said his recruiter, Staff Sgt. Richard Thayer, who works out of the Lebanon recruiting office. Thayer said he helped Elliott manage his diet and develop an exercise regimen. “I'm so proud of Ben,” he said. “He showed so much heart. He made the commitment and decided to do it.”
In Thayer's two-plus years recruiting in Lebanon, it's the first time that four friends from one school have enlisted. “For four young men (to enlist) from such a small area in such a small school, it was a surprise. … It was unusual. It was special,” he said.
Guidance counselors at Woodsville High School said they believe it's the first time four students have joined under the buddy program, which assigns pairs of friends to the same platoon. Nonetheless, the percentage of graduating seniors at Woodsville High School who plan to join the military has increased in recent years, from 2 percent in 2003 to 7 percent in 2006, said Shauna Kimball, a guidance counselor at the high school. “I think it started with Sept. 11,” Kimball said. “I would say that was the beginning of the interest.”
The war in Iraq hasn't dampened it, she said. “They're more aware of the military as an option because that's so out there. That’s something you hear about all the time.”
About 10 children in Woodsville schools had parents who were deployed to Iraq for about a year as part of a Woodsville-based National Guard battery.
“I think it (the military) has more meaning for them,” guidance counselor Susan Clark said of Woodsville's students. “I think they might believe they can make a difference.”
Other reasons for enlisting may include the rising cost of college, which can seem especially daunting if students are facing loans or aren't sure if they want to attend. There are also limited post-secondary job opportunities in the Woodsville area, especially given the drop in manufacturing jobs after closures that included a paper mill in Ryegate, Vt., and a lumberyard where a Wal-Mart is planned, the guidance counselors said.
Young is the most outgoing of the four Marines; the other three are quieter. They often finish each other's thoughts. They'll likely be deployed within a year. They’re not sure where, though there’s a good chance they could go to Iraq or Afghanistan. Though they're aware of their parents’ concern for their safety -- “Our parents definitely took it (their enlistment) hard,” Young said -- the Marines said they know what they’re doing.
“It's something that crosses our mind, but, …” Thompson began.
“… It's our job,” Young finished.
“You can't be afraid of it. If we were afraid of it we wouldn't have joined the Marines,” Elliott said.
The young men trained for boot camp this summer with A.J. Flateau, their science teacher who graduated from Norwich University in 2003. They woke up early to swim, dive, run up to seven miles and do calisthenics such as push-ups and sit-ups.
“Their willingness to enlist at a time like this says something about them,” Flateau said.
During 13 weeks at boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., they experienced grueling physical training, including a final 10-mile fast-paced march while wearing their Kevlar helmets and carrying packs weighing 75 to 100 pounds. They also faced mental challenges, such as homesickness.
“You've pretty much been taken out of your comfort zone,” Thompson said. “You're not allowed to see your family or talk to them.” That meant no e-mails and, generally, no phone calls, though they could write letters.
The experience created an even tighter bond among the young men.
“It was something we all went through together,” Thompson said. “It brought us closer.”
Said Prescott: “I thought, you know, things happen for a reason. They've been friends since (they were) little boys, and how nice that they're going to do this together, because not only are they lifelong friends, but now they have another kind of brotherhood.”
The Marines' parents said it was comforting to know their sons were going through boot camp together.
“It was a good feeling that they had (each other),” said Anna Morse, Young's mother. “They had grown up together. You just felt that your child wasn't alone -- I shouldn’t call him a child anymore -- that your son wasn’t alone.”
On Tuesday, all four must report to Camp Geiger in North Carolina, where they'll receive additional training. Then their paths will diverge: Young will attend security force school at a Virginia base, Elliott will go to Alabama to learn how to dispose of bombs, and Thompson and Brant will go to aviation school in Pensacola, Fla.
But there was still time after the Veterans Day parade for photographs and light moments with family and friends, and to eat lunch inside the VFW with the veterans and their families.
Victor, the Air Force veteran who had spoken during the ceremony, said the four Marines reminded him of himself when he enlisted in 1960.
“The youth, their lives ahead of them, and yet they're headed off …” He looked at the Marines and never completed his sentence.
Ellie