thedrifter
04-05-07, 08:26 AM
Article published Apr 5, 2007
Newark Marine gets 'Oprah' homecoming
By JEN SCHERER
Newark Advocate
NEWARK — As millions of viewers looked on, a Newark mom had a special, if not exactly private, reunion with her son today on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Cpl. Nathan Kashner, 22, was among a handful of Marines returning from Iraq who was invited to have his family homecoming on the show. He was greeted by his mom, Monica, and his girlfriend, Laura Hannum, of Newark.
In a phone interview from Chicago, Monica said her son returned from his third tour in Iraq a couple days ago, but today was the first time she got to see him. Winfrey brought the Marines out and talked to them for a while, then brought the families out on stage for the reunion.
“It’s like you forgot about the audience and you just focused on them,” Monica said. “It was very exciting. The whole experience was very exciting. You’re just so happy that they’re back safe and sound.”
Several members of Kashner’s unit, the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion’s Alpha Company out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., participated in the show.
Those who didn’t were reunited with their families Monday at Camp Lejeune.
The show today focused on heroes, and there were several story segments before the Marines came on. Monica said her understanding was that Winfrey, who wanted to do a homecoming show, contacted the Pentagon about units getting ready to return from Iraq. Kashner’s unit happened to be one of them, and the one she invited.
Along with reuniting the Marines with their families, Monica said the Marines were reunited with three members of their unit who were injured in Iraq and sent home to recover.
Monica and Hannum were flown to Chicago on Tuesday, and were brought to the studio for the show, which was taped live at 9 a.m. today. It aired in Newark at 4 p.m.
After the show, Winfrey took pictures with each family.
“She was great,” Monica said. “She’s just like an everyday person. She’s just so casual and no pressure. You just felt so comfortable around her.”
Kashner will report to Camp Lejeune tomorrow, and he will be on leave from April 20 to May 20.
This tour was Kashner’s third, and Monica hopes last, in Iraq.
The 2003 Licking Valley High School graduate entered the Marines immediately after graduation, and won’t get out until September.
“Ever since junior high, it was his dream to be a Marine,” Monica said. “The day after he turned 18 in October, he went down and signed up.”
Kashner’s first tour in Iraq, from July 2004 to February 2005, was with a unit involved in the takeover of Fallujah. After he returned, Kashner volunteered for service with another unit, and went back to Iraq from November 2005 to February 2006, Monica said.
When he returned from his second tour, Kashner was reassigned to his current unit. He left with the unit in September 2006 and returned Sunday.
“In fact I thought it was an April Fools’ joke when he told me all this (about The Oprah Winfrey Show),” Monica said with a laugh.
Putting it mildly, her son has been gone a lot, Monica said.
“As a mother, it’s very hard knowing that your son’s off fighting a war,” Monica said. “The main things that got me through it (were) trust in God to take care of him and having my friends and family around me to always support me whenever I needed them.”
Ellie
Newark Marine gets 'Oprah' homecoming
By JEN SCHERER
Newark Advocate
NEWARK — As millions of viewers looked on, a Newark mom had a special, if not exactly private, reunion with her son today on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Cpl. Nathan Kashner, 22, was among a handful of Marines returning from Iraq who was invited to have his family homecoming on the show. He was greeted by his mom, Monica, and his girlfriend, Laura Hannum, of Newark.
In a phone interview from Chicago, Monica said her son returned from his third tour in Iraq a couple days ago, but today was the first time she got to see him. Winfrey brought the Marines out and talked to them for a while, then brought the families out on stage for the reunion.
“It’s like you forgot about the audience and you just focused on them,” Monica said. “It was very exciting. The whole experience was very exciting. You’re just so happy that they’re back safe and sound.”
Several members of Kashner’s unit, the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion’s Alpha Company out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., participated in the show.
Those who didn’t were reunited with their families Monday at Camp Lejeune.
The show today focused on heroes, and there were several story segments before the Marines came on. Monica said her understanding was that Winfrey, who wanted to do a homecoming show, contacted the Pentagon about units getting ready to return from Iraq. Kashner’s unit happened to be one of them, and the one she invited.
Along with reuniting the Marines with their families, Monica said the Marines were reunited with three members of their unit who were injured in Iraq and sent home to recover.
Monica and Hannum were flown to Chicago on Tuesday, and were brought to the studio for the show, which was taped live at 9 a.m. today. It aired in Newark at 4 p.m.
After the show, Winfrey took pictures with each family.
“She was great,” Monica said. “She’s just like an everyday person. She’s just so casual and no pressure. You just felt so comfortable around her.”
Kashner will report to Camp Lejeune tomorrow, and he will be on leave from April 20 to May 20.
This tour was Kashner’s third, and Monica hopes last, in Iraq.
The 2003 Licking Valley High School graduate entered the Marines immediately after graduation, and won’t get out until September.
“Ever since junior high, it was his dream to be a Marine,” Monica said. “The day after he turned 18 in October, he went down and signed up.”
Kashner’s first tour in Iraq, from July 2004 to February 2005, was with a unit involved in the takeover of Fallujah. After he returned, Kashner volunteered for service with another unit, and went back to Iraq from November 2005 to February 2006, Monica said.
When he returned from his second tour, Kashner was reassigned to his current unit. He left with the unit in September 2006 and returned Sunday.
“In fact I thought it was an April Fools’ joke when he told me all this (about The Oprah Winfrey Show),” Monica said with a laugh.
Putting it mildly, her son has been gone a lot, Monica said.
“As a mother, it’s very hard knowing that your son’s off fighting a war,” Monica said. “The main things that got me through it (were) trust in God to take care of him and having my friends and family around me to always support me whenever I needed them.”
Ellie