thedrifter
01-10-07, 06:49 PM
War Through The Eyes Of A Marine Officer
Major Schreffler Trains Next Generation Of Marines, Who Will Head Overseas For Combat
QUANTICO, Va., Jan. 10, 2007
(CBS) Marine Corps Maj. George Schreffler knows the front line as well as anyone. CBS News was following him nearly four years ago, the day Baghdad fell.
Schreffler, a captain at the time, was leading his Marines through a two-hour firefight, CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts reports. With sniper fire all around, then-Capt. Schreffler calmly ordered Lima Company to "hold fire" when three heads appeared from behind a wall. These three people would live or die based on Schreffler's orders. It was later learned that the three who lived were a husband, wife and child caught in the crossfire.
"I don't remember a particular sense of relief. There aren't any particular pats on the back for doing it right," Schreffler says, adding that he was glad he made the right call.
At the Expeditionary Warfare School in Quantico, Va., Maj. Schreffler is now training the next generation of Marine captains. As soon as they complete his course, they'll head overseas for combat. And for those in the Marine Corps, that's both a blessing and a burden.
"Most Marines expect to be tested at some point when they serve. so in a way it's a blessing," Schreffler says, adding that it's "not a burden that we weren't willing to bear."
It's a burden that goes beyond the battlefield. On his desk, Schreffler keeps the names of 20 Marines killed during his second tour in Iraq in 2004, including Richard Gannon, who replaced him as captain of Lima Company.
Gannon's death was "a very sobering and emotional event," Schreffler says.
Like so many in the service, Schreffler is following a family tradition. His grandfather was a Marine Corps gunner in World War II. He loves the Corps. "I've certainly found the challenge I was looking for and was promised," he says.
For now, that challenge is far from over.
Ellie
Major Schreffler Trains Next Generation Of Marines, Who Will Head Overseas For Combat
QUANTICO, Va., Jan. 10, 2007
(CBS) Marine Corps Maj. George Schreffler knows the front line as well as anyone. CBS News was following him nearly four years ago, the day Baghdad fell.
Schreffler, a captain at the time, was leading his Marines through a two-hour firefight, CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts reports. With sniper fire all around, then-Capt. Schreffler calmly ordered Lima Company to "hold fire" when three heads appeared from behind a wall. These three people would live or die based on Schreffler's orders. It was later learned that the three who lived were a husband, wife and child caught in the crossfire.
"I don't remember a particular sense of relief. There aren't any particular pats on the back for doing it right," Schreffler says, adding that he was glad he made the right call.
At the Expeditionary Warfare School in Quantico, Va., Maj. Schreffler is now training the next generation of Marine captains. As soon as they complete his course, they'll head overseas for combat. And for those in the Marine Corps, that's both a blessing and a burden.
"Most Marines expect to be tested at some point when they serve. so in a way it's a blessing," Schreffler says, adding that it's "not a burden that we weren't willing to bear."
It's a burden that goes beyond the battlefield. On his desk, Schreffler keeps the names of 20 Marines killed during his second tour in Iraq in 2004, including Richard Gannon, who replaced him as captain of Lima Company.
Gannon's death was "a very sobering and emotional event," Schreffler says.
Like so many in the service, Schreffler is following a family tradition. His grandfather was a Marine Corps gunner in World War II. He loves the Corps. "I've certainly found the challenge I was looking for and was promised," he says.
For now, that challenge is far from over.
Ellie