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thedrifter
02-01-07, 10:18 AM
An inspiring local Marine
Packages show how to care
By Jessica Willis, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Berkshire Eagle
Thursday, February 01

WILLIAMSTOWN — Pine Cobble seventh-graders learned about a Marine's care package wish list — and much more — when First Lt. Brent F. Filson Jr. visited the school yesterday.

According to Susan Wells, an English teacher and director of development at the school, Filson's visit — which he would refer to as a "guided discussion" — was inspired by the students.

"They want to reach out and help," Wells said. "They want to learn how to put together care packages (for the soldiers)."

Filson, a 26-year-old Williamstown native and a Pine Cobble alumnus, was sworn in as a Marine in 2003, and he has hard-won knowledge about what Marines want to find when they open a care package.

"We don't have things like hand-warmers," he told the students. "Believe it or not, it gets cold (in Iraq). There's no heating, and we don't have gaiters," which is warm, protective clothing for necks and ankles.

He also suggested gifts of Mach 3 razors, Wet Wipes and candy.

"And if you send anything, send it to the grunts," Filson added, referring to the USMC's infantry soldiers who do most of the back-breaking ground work — and are in need of a care package or two.

"The average Marine will carry 100 pounds (of gear) on a regular patrol," he said.

Filson, who has two brothers in the armed services — Rush, a major in the Marines, and Adam, a Navy reservist and lawyer who lives in Williamstown — also talked to the students about the Iraqi citizens themselves.

"They just want security," he said. "They want to be able to walk down the street. They're afraid for their kids."

» How to help

For more information on how to send care packages to a Marine stationed overseas, visit www.usmc.mil

Dakota Ross, 12, of Williamstown, asked Filson to talk about the "fighting stuff," and he told her that the main mission was to "build up Iraq's army and police, and give them enough bubble to take over."

He also told them his battalion "wasn't trying to crush the insurgency or try to find the ringleader."

Filson talked described life in Anah, a Sunni city in Iraq that has been decimated by insurgent attacks — and how the Marines eventually gained the trust of its citizens.

"At one point, (the citizens) were in the street, which was a rarity," he recalled.

Likening it to a "block party," he said Anah's return to some semblance of public normalcy was surprising.

"It was amazing to see, since Anah has become such a horrible place," Filson said.

While on a mission in Anah last October, Filson was injured by an "improvised explosive device" that had been embedded in a wall.

He said the shrapnel shattered bones and tore soft tissue in his left leg, but he expected to recover — and when he did, it would be time to go back to his base at Camp Lejune, N.C.

Seated in an easy chair in the school's library with his left leg in a halo cast and a Pine Cobble athletics shirt — a gift from the school — draped across his knee, Filson said he would be in Williamstown for "six to eight months" while he recuperated at his brother's house.

"When did you decide you were going to be a Marine?" asked 12-year-old Patrick Shine.

"I think I always knew," Filson replied. "I had a thing about being with the best, and the Marines are the best."

Jessica Willis can be reached at jwillis@berkshireeagle.com or at (413) 664-4995.

Ellie