thedrifter
11-30-06, 08:30 AM
Plymouth man feeds troops in Iraq
BY JOE SWICKARD, Det. Free Press
Created: 11/30/2006 2:23:13 AM
Updated: 11/30/2006 2:25:11 AM
Good cook is a fortune of Iraq war
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Lance Cpl. Christopher Owens couldn't get an inch of traction trying to rag Charlie Company's chief cook, Lance Cpl. Steven Oliver, that his insignia should be a bowl with crossed spoons.
"Well, let me tell you," Oliver told his buddy, "cooks have knives."
An army, Napoleon said, travels on its stomach. The U.S. Marines are no different, and Oliver makes sure nearly 200 Michigan-based Reserves in the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment are fueled for the fight in Fallujah.
"He cooks and he can hold a rifle," Owens said. "He does a damn good job."
Oliver, 23, of Plymouth responds that it's the least he can do.
"These guys are working hard - harder than I ever do," he said. "And I try to do the best I can for them."
The meals are meant to be big - Friday's dinner was barbecued pork ribs, macaroni and cheese, green beans and strawberry cheesecake - for young Marines burning up calories by the carload working 18-hour days.
Given the condition of Charlie's base in a battered school administration building, its power generated from a madcap tangle of wires and cables, Oliver usually serves food prepared at Camp Baharia, the U.S. base just outside Fallujah, rather than cooking it himself.
For Thanksgiving, Oliver put on turkey and steaks. But he also tries for unexpected touches, special snacks like mozzarella sticks, Buffalo wings and breakfast burritos.
"The guys really like that stuff," Oliver said, and it can mean a lot more than soufflés or parsley sprigs on the cardboard trays.
Owens said friends back home can't possibly understand the delight such small treats can bring after weary hours on patrol, followed by "five hours of freezing in a cold-ass room" as they await new orders while on alert.
"They just don't know," he said. "There's no way they can."
Oliver said his parents had a difficult time understanding why he became a Marine reservist while attending Western Michigan University. He said he acted on an urge he first felt when news of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks came to his drafting class at Plymouth-Canton High School.
Oliver's folks were relieved he was trained as a cook before his deployment with the other 1,100 men in the battalion.
"They took relief that I'd be back at Camp Baharia's chow hall," he said.
It didn't exactly turn out that way.
"Now, I'm probably one of the most forward-based cooks in the Marines."
In Charlie Company, the cook gets served double duty as driver for its commanding officer, Capt. Mike Mayne, who earned a Bronze Star for combat heroism in an earlier tour.
Mayne - a fitness buff who growls at snack cakes - doesn't lead from the rear. He's often out overseeing operations and on hand when the men are on road patrols and conducting random vehicle searches.
Like the men in his command, Mayne can be exposed to insurgents' grenade attacks, sniper shots or blasts from homemade bombs. These aren't abstract threats; the company has lost four men since taking over responsibility for the central city two months ago.
"It's OK," Oliver said. "It puts me at ease being out there with him."
Contact JOE SWICKARD at jswickard@freepress.com.
Ellie
BY JOE SWICKARD, Det. Free Press
Created: 11/30/2006 2:23:13 AM
Updated: 11/30/2006 2:25:11 AM
Good cook is a fortune of Iraq war
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Lance Cpl. Christopher Owens couldn't get an inch of traction trying to rag Charlie Company's chief cook, Lance Cpl. Steven Oliver, that his insignia should be a bowl with crossed spoons.
"Well, let me tell you," Oliver told his buddy, "cooks have knives."
An army, Napoleon said, travels on its stomach. The U.S. Marines are no different, and Oliver makes sure nearly 200 Michigan-based Reserves in the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment are fueled for the fight in Fallujah.
"He cooks and he can hold a rifle," Owens said. "He does a damn good job."
Oliver, 23, of Plymouth responds that it's the least he can do.
"These guys are working hard - harder than I ever do," he said. "And I try to do the best I can for them."
The meals are meant to be big - Friday's dinner was barbecued pork ribs, macaroni and cheese, green beans and strawberry cheesecake - for young Marines burning up calories by the carload working 18-hour days.
Given the condition of Charlie's base in a battered school administration building, its power generated from a madcap tangle of wires and cables, Oliver usually serves food prepared at Camp Baharia, the U.S. base just outside Fallujah, rather than cooking it himself.
For Thanksgiving, Oliver put on turkey and steaks. But he also tries for unexpected touches, special snacks like mozzarella sticks, Buffalo wings and breakfast burritos.
"The guys really like that stuff," Oliver said, and it can mean a lot more than soufflés or parsley sprigs on the cardboard trays.
Owens said friends back home can't possibly understand the delight such small treats can bring after weary hours on patrol, followed by "five hours of freezing in a cold-ass room" as they await new orders while on alert.
"They just don't know," he said. "There's no way they can."
Oliver said his parents had a difficult time understanding why he became a Marine reservist while attending Western Michigan University. He said he acted on an urge he first felt when news of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks came to his drafting class at Plymouth-Canton High School.
Oliver's folks were relieved he was trained as a cook before his deployment with the other 1,100 men in the battalion.
"They took relief that I'd be back at Camp Baharia's chow hall," he said.
It didn't exactly turn out that way.
"Now, I'm probably one of the most forward-based cooks in the Marines."
In Charlie Company, the cook gets served double duty as driver for its commanding officer, Capt. Mike Mayne, who earned a Bronze Star for combat heroism in an earlier tour.
Mayne - a fitness buff who growls at snack cakes - doesn't lead from the rear. He's often out overseeing operations and on hand when the men are on road patrols and conducting random vehicle searches.
Like the men in his command, Mayne can be exposed to insurgents' grenade attacks, sniper shots or blasts from homemade bombs. These aren't abstract threats; the company has lost four men since taking over responsibility for the central city two months ago.
"It's OK," Oliver said. "It puts me at ease being out there with him."
Contact JOE SWICKARD at jswickard@freepress.com.
Ellie