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thedrifter
02-19-03, 06:57 AM
LETTERS HOME

By LT. BANKOFF

Editor's Note: South Bend native Jonathan Bankoff graduated from Marian High School and Vanderbilt University before he was awarded a naval scholarship for medical school, completing his medical training at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb. He completed an internship at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., in 2000.

Since the summer of 2001, he has been assigned to 8th Communication Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C., as the battalion medical officer.

This is the first of Lt. Bankoff's letters home about impending war -- and whatever happens from here.

Friday, 14 February 2003

Jacksonville, N.C.

My wife and I spent part of our Valentine's Day thumbing through books at the local bookstore. In an adjacent aisle, we overheard two young boys talking.

Their conversation was a mixture of current grade-school topics: candy, valentines and SpongeBob Squarepants. As they talked, a young man with a high and tight haircut motioned to one of the boys that it was time to go. The boy turned to his friend as they walked off and said, "That's my dad. He's a Marine. He's going to war. Is your dad going to war, too?"

The innocent exchange of these two young boys shed an unpleasant light on the situation that our nation is facing. Throughout the country, as the discussions intensify and the politicians lobby for support, this tiny Marine town prepares for war.

The local paper is dominated by articles and pictures of deploying forces, seemingly a different battalion every day. The streets are lined with banners and signs, messages of "God bless our troops" and "Hurry home Warriors." The schoolchildren are writing Valentine's Day cards and letters to their pen pals, young Marines and Sailors who visited their classroom before being called upon to carry out their missions.

While the possibility of war is still being debated in many parts of the country, in Jacksonville, N.C., it is reality.

I am a commissioned medical officer in the U.S. Navy. I have been stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., since July 2001, assigned to a Marine Corps communication battalion. As the primary physician for these 1,200 Marines, my duty is to provide operational medical care in an expeditionary environment.

Essentially, this means keeping my Marines healthy enough to go to war and ensuring they remain healthy once they get there. To assist me in this effort, I have 11 enlisted Navy corpsmen, of varying ages and experience, trained in the fundamentals of medical diagnosis and treatment.

For the past several months, our battalion has been preparing for deployment to the Middle East. We have already sent a large number of troops to countries in that region and will shortly be sending the balance of the battalion forward to assist them. While the specifics of our mission, until recently, have been unclear, our pre-deployment training has been standard.

My direct role in this training has been to educate the Marines about potential medical threats that they may encounter in the region and medically screen and immunize them against such threats. Some recent topics of interest have been lectures on proper autoinjector use to combat nerve agent exposure, and briefings on anthrax and smallpox shots.

As the window for deployment rapidly approaches, the initial feelings of excitement, once so visible among the Marines, have been replaced by the palpable, underlying feelings of fear and anxiety. Not every Marine has these feelings, and very few will admit to them, but you can see it in their eyes.

You can hear it in their voices as they ask questions about possible immunization side effects. You can sense it in their expressions as they stand in line to receive their desert camouflage uniforms and gas masks. Anxiety associated with a mission of unknown length or outcome. Concern for loved ones left behind. Fear of failure.

Marines are a unique breed, a special group of highly skilled warriors, trained specifically for combat. They are taught to never show fear, that pain is a sign of weakness leaving the body. Our recent pre-deployment training, however, has also revealed a side rarely seen on Marine Corps recruiting posters or television commercials: the human side. It will be of great interest to me to observe the interaction of these delicately balanced feelings in a potentially hostile environment.

"We will not tire. We will not falter. We will not fail."

These paraphrased words spoken by our commander in chief, shortly after Sept. 11th, are written on a plaque above the entrance to our battalion. They are in clear view every time a Marine or Sailor walks out the door. I have the utmost confidence in my ability and the abilities of the Marines and Sailors around me. We wear our uniforms with honor and take great pride in being afforded the opportunity to serve our country.

We will be on foreign soil soon, our length of commitment uncertain. Our mission and orders are clear, though, and we intend to see them through.

The Marines and Sailors of 8th Communication Battalion are going to war.

Semper Fidelis,


LT Jonathan Bankoff, M.D.

8th Communication Battalion Surgeon

U.S. Navy

II Marine Expeditionary Force


Sempers,

Roger