thedrifter
03-15-07, 08:24 AM
'Hope' accompanies North Kingstown soldier to Iraq
By: CHRIS MACHADO 03/15/2007
NORTH KINGSTOWN - There's something to be said for knowing that people are thinking about you when times are tough; really tough. Like in times when sandstorms batter you mercilessly and when a hidden enemy plants explosives on the side of the road or fires a machine gun bullet at you.
There's also something to be said for a little hope when you're off fighting in a war.
A little Rhode Island-style hope is just what U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Nick Tift, 22, got during his six-month tour of duty in Iraq.
From the time he was a child, Tift was fascinated by the military. To hear him tell it, yearly trips to the Quonset Air Show mesmerized the 2002 North Kingstown High School graduate.
With no immediate college plans, Tift joined the Marines after graduation. "If I was going to join the military, it was going to be the Marines," he said proudly.
As a member of the Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, based in Plainville, Connecticut, Tift was sent into duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom last March. His job, like the other members of his unit, was to provide security in Fallujah.
Although Fallujah remained relatively quiet when the war began in 2003, the city, which is roughly 40 miles from Baghdad and is home to some 350,000 people, became a hotbed for insurgent activity as the war went on.
Tift said during his stint, his unit "encountered everything you can think of," which included countless improvised explosive devices and hand grenade attacks. That's doesn't even take into account the sniper fire.
"It was definitely interesting," he said with a wry smile. "You always had to be on your feet; you always had to be looking around. It was as dangerous as it was going to get."
So how does a 22-year-old man deal with life under attack?
"We got to the point where we just chuckled at stuff like that," he said without an ounce of false bravado. "We were so out of our realm. We almost had to make light of the situation just to get by."
He added, "If a grenade was thrown at us, we had to say, 'Alright, I'm fine,' and just keep going on with the day. It makes you grow up pretty fast. You're put in positions where you have to act, not think."
Not only did a sense of humor help keep Tift going but this is where that aforementioned hope came into play.
Tift's grandfather, North Kingstown resident Jim Baker, had heard that soldiers staying with Tift had been hanging their state's flags outside their compound. Tift said Baker e-mailed Governor Donald Carcieri and asked for a Rhode Island flag to be sent to Tift. Just a couple of months later, the flag arrived.
"It flew pretty much the whole time we were there," Tift said.
Throughout it's time perched outside the compound, Tift said the simple, white flag adorned with an anchor and the word "hope" was damaged by shrapnel and ripped by mortars.
However, like him, the flag made it back safely last October.
Last month, the Governor had a private ceremony for Tift and his family and was given the flag back.
"It was pretty beat up. It saw some things," Tift said of the flag.
Although the unit had been inundated with care packages from various Connecticut schools and organizations, Tift said flying his state's flag added a little more to his days in the war torn country.
"It was definitely a good feeling to know that Rhode Islanders knew other Rhode Islanders were there," he said. "The support we got was unbelievable."
Ellie
By: CHRIS MACHADO 03/15/2007
NORTH KINGSTOWN - There's something to be said for knowing that people are thinking about you when times are tough; really tough. Like in times when sandstorms batter you mercilessly and when a hidden enemy plants explosives on the side of the road or fires a machine gun bullet at you.
There's also something to be said for a little hope when you're off fighting in a war.
A little Rhode Island-style hope is just what U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Nick Tift, 22, got during his six-month tour of duty in Iraq.
From the time he was a child, Tift was fascinated by the military. To hear him tell it, yearly trips to the Quonset Air Show mesmerized the 2002 North Kingstown High School graduate.
With no immediate college plans, Tift joined the Marines after graduation. "If I was going to join the military, it was going to be the Marines," he said proudly.
As a member of the Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, based in Plainville, Connecticut, Tift was sent into duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom last March. His job, like the other members of his unit, was to provide security in Fallujah.
Although Fallujah remained relatively quiet when the war began in 2003, the city, which is roughly 40 miles from Baghdad and is home to some 350,000 people, became a hotbed for insurgent activity as the war went on.
Tift said during his stint, his unit "encountered everything you can think of," which included countless improvised explosive devices and hand grenade attacks. That's doesn't even take into account the sniper fire.
"It was definitely interesting," he said with a wry smile. "You always had to be on your feet; you always had to be looking around. It was as dangerous as it was going to get."
So how does a 22-year-old man deal with life under attack?
"We got to the point where we just chuckled at stuff like that," he said without an ounce of false bravado. "We were so out of our realm. We almost had to make light of the situation just to get by."
He added, "If a grenade was thrown at us, we had to say, 'Alright, I'm fine,' and just keep going on with the day. It makes you grow up pretty fast. You're put in positions where you have to act, not think."
Not only did a sense of humor help keep Tift going but this is where that aforementioned hope came into play.
Tift's grandfather, North Kingstown resident Jim Baker, had heard that soldiers staying with Tift had been hanging their state's flags outside their compound. Tift said Baker e-mailed Governor Donald Carcieri and asked for a Rhode Island flag to be sent to Tift. Just a couple of months later, the flag arrived.
"It flew pretty much the whole time we were there," Tift said.
Throughout it's time perched outside the compound, Tift said the simple, white flag adorned with an anchor and the word "hope" was damaged by shrapnel and ripped by mortars.
However, like him, the flag made it back safely last October.
Last month, the Governor had a private ceremony for Tift and his family and was given the flag back.
"It was pretty beat up. It saw some things," Tift said of the flag.
Although the unit had been inundated with care packages from various Connecticut schools and organizations, Tift said flying his state's flag added a little more to his days in the war torn country.
"It was definitely a good feeling to know that Rhode Islanders knew other Rhode Islanders were there," he said. "The support we got was unbelievable."
Ellie