thedrifter
04-25-07, 06:26 AM
For some, there's no homecoming
Marine unit's return to Selfridge this weekend will be bittersweet for the families of its fallen members
April 25, 2007
BY BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
George Hill recalls when the Marines came knocking at his door with a message of death.
"The only thing I asked was: 'Is my son dead?' " he said. "They said: 'Sir.' I said, 'I just want to know: Is my son dead?' "
Evelyn Burgess of Westland has trouble watching the national news.
"I'll often burst out crying," she said, thinking of her son Bryan, a Marine sergeant killed by a sniper Nov. 9 in Fallujah, Iraq.
Michelle (Mitzi) Hill of Vassar started going to other military funerals after a sniper in Fallujah gunned down her 22-year-old son, Cpl. Christopher Esckelson, on Dec. 28.
"I know the other families appreciated my support," she said. "They just nod their heads and say: 'Thank you.' "
These Marines, and hundreds of others, served with the 1st Battalion of the 24th Marines, a reserve unit headquartered at Selfridge Air National Guard Base whose stories have been chronicled in the Free Press as Michigan's Band of Brothers.
The Michigan Marines are scheduled to return to Selfridge in Harrison Township on Sunday. But as homecoming celebrations unfold, families who lost loved ones are bracing for more pain. The unit of more than 1,000 had 22 members killed in action.
For surviving loved ones, there is no animosity, just sad reminders.
"I wish I could go there and support them, but I just can't," Michelle Hill said of attending welcome-home events. "They are going to be so happy, and I am going to be so sad."
Marine Maj. Shannon Wiley, who works on the Peace Time War Support Team at Selfridge, can only imagine the bittersweet feelings.
"I'm sure they are glad to see their fellow Marines coming back home," he said. "But it's got to be very hard to know their Marine didn't return safe with the rest. I'm sure it accentuates the pain they are feeling."
'Every pain and every agony'
At the Hill household in Shelby Township, the family sets a place for Pfc. Tarryl Hill each night at the dinner table where he would have sat next to his sisters, Dedra and Dominique (Nikki) Hill, and other family members.
Tarryl Hill, 19, was killed Feb. 7 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Anbar province.
George Hill, who is Tarryl Hill's grandfather and a pastor in Romeo, raised him since he was 4 months old and always called him his son. He remembers their last phone conversation on Jan. 31.
"He said to us: 'I couldn't go to sleep...' " George Hill said, choking up.
His wife, Sue Dean Hill, Tarryl's grandmother, finished the sentence: "Until he talked to us that night."
Eight days later, the Marines came knocking.
"As a parent, I now know how the other parents feel," George Hill said. "I know every pain and every agony."
Tarryl Hill was born in Detroit, and as an infant moved to Lathrup Village with his grandparents. A 2005 graduate of Southfield-Lathrup High School, Tarryl Hill and his cousin Steven Hill enlisted in the Marines last year without telling their grandparents.
The Hills, who later moved to Shelby Township, were not pleased.
"We are not against the military," George Hill said. "We are against the war. We knew it was not a good time to enlist."
The cousins stayed together until Tarryl Hill went to Iraq in December.
He loved the outdoors, bike riding and sports, especially basketball.
After the military, he planned to study chemical engineering at Lawrence Technical University.
"He knew how we felt, but we still supported him," George Hill said. "He kept insisting that nothing was going to happen to him. He was what he said he was: a Marine till the end."
'Flags remind me of him'
Christopher Esckelson had aspirations to become a doctor. But the Marines were always in his plans.
"He once told me: 'Mom, if I would have been valedictorian, I still would have been a Marine,' " his mother, Michelle Hill, 48, said this week. "That was his path."
Esckelson, who grew up in Vassar, north of Frankenmuth, was killed Dec. 28, two days shy of his 23rd birthday.
His father, David Esckelson, said he never wavered in supporting in his son or the war.
"But I do believe that we need to get this damn war done," said David Esckelson, 48, of Vassar. "I don't want his death to be in vain. But 3,500 deaths is enough."
Moved by other military families that attended her son's funeral, Michelle Hill said she joined the Patriot Guard, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts that attend military funerals to show support.
Two days after she buried her son, she attended the visitation in Kawkawlin of a fallen soldier.
She also attended the funeral of 22-year-old Kenny Van Slyke, a Marine from Bay City, killed in combat Feb. 27, in Anbar province.
"I just wanted to go to the funerals to support the families emotionally and let them know that I appreciate them," said Hill, who works for the post office in Vassar. "In a way, it's therapy. I plan to go to more funerals. I want to help the other parents."
The Free Press featured Esckelson in a photo published on Christmas Eve that was part of a series of articles on his unit.
He was an avid hunter and artist who played sports in school, including football.
"I walk on my mail route every day, and I don't have a radio," his mother said. "So I think about him constantly. I see all the American flags out, and I like to see that support. The flags remind me of him."
'Fighting for the right reasons'
The Free Press showcased Sgt. Bryan Burgess' funeral in a video on its Web site.
Loved ones spoke of how, at age 35, he didn't want to leave the younger Marines without guidance as they prepared to deploy to Iraq.
A sniper shot Burgess in the face Nov. 9 in Fallujah, killing him. Burgess grew up in Westland.
His mother, Evelyn Burgess, 61, said her religious faith has kept her grounded.
"I just tell myself that Bryan's in a better place than we are," she said. "He's with God and his Grandpa Burgess."
Burgess said she still thinks about talking to the other Marines about the circumstances surrounding her son's death.
"I want to know what his last words were," she said. "Did he die instantly? What was he doing before he was shot? What was he talking about?"
Burgess' belief in the war hasn't changed.
"War is ugly, but I believe Bryan was fighting for the right reasons," she said. "He couldn't wait to come home and kiss the ground. But he also knew that he might not come home, and he believed in his cause.
"My attitude hasn't changed."
'It would just be too hard'
Evelyn Burgess said she knows she's welcome at any homecoming for Marines in Michigan. She just couldn't handle it.
"Oh my God, I'm overjoyed for those families," she said. "It would just be too hard for me to see those boys stepping off a bus or off a plane. That's for their families and friends."
Tarryl Hill's grandmother, Sue Dean Hill, feels the same way.
"It's not like I don't like that they're coming back," she said. "I'm very happy for those parents. I'm just a little sad that Tarryl is not with them."
Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com.
Ellie
Marine unit's return to Selfridge this weekend will be bittersweet for the families of its fallen members
April 25, 2007
BY BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
George Hill recalls when the Marines came knocking at his door with a message of death.
"The only thing I asked was: 'Is my son dead?' " he said. "They said: 'Sir.' I said, 'I just want to know: Is my son dead?' "
Evelyn Burgess of Westland has trouble watching the national news.
"I'll often burst out crying," she said, thinking of her son Bryan, a Marine sergeant killed by a sniper Nov. 9 in Fallujah, Iraq.
Michelle (Mitzi) Hill of Vassar started going to other military funerals after a sniper in Fallujah gunned down her 22-year-old son, Cpl. Christopher Esckelson, on Dec. 28.
"I know the other families appreciated my support," she said. "They just nod their heads and say: 'Thank you.' "
These Marines, and hundreds of others, served with the 1st Battalion of the 24th Marines, a reserve unit headquartered at Selfridge Air National Guard Base whose stories have been chronicled in the Free Press as Michigan's Band of Brothers.
The Michigan Marines are scheduled to return to Selfridge in Harrison Township on Sunday. But as homecoming celebrations unfold, families who lost loved ones are bracing for more pain. The unit of more than 1,000 had 22 members killed in action.
For surviving loved ones, there is no animosity, just sad reminders.
"I wish I could go there and support them, but I just can't," Michelle Hill said of attending welcome-home events. "They are going to be so happy, and I am going to be so sad."
Marine Maj. Shannon Wiley, who works on the Peace Time War Support Team at Selfridge, can only imagine the bittersweet feelings.
"I'm sure they are glad to see their fellow Marines coming back home," he said. "But it's got to be very hard to know their Marine didn't return safe with the rest. I'm sure it accentuates the pain they are feeling."
'Every pain and every agony'
At the Hill household in Shelby Township, the family sets a place for Pfc. Tarryl Hill each night at the dinner table where he would have sat next to his sisters, Dedra and Dominique (Nikki) Hill, and other family members.
Tarryl Hill, 19, was killed Feb. 7 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Anbar province.
George Hill, who is Tarryl Hill's grandfather and a pastor in Romeo, raised him since he was 4 months old and always called him his son. He remembers their last phone conversation on Jan. 31.
"He said to us: 'I couldn't go to sleep...' " George Hill said, choking up.
His wife, Sue Dean Hill, Tarryl's grandmother, finished the sentence: "Until he talked to us that night."
Eight days later, the Marines came knocking.
"As a parent, I now know how the other parents feel," George Hill said. "I know every pain and every agony."
Tarryl Hill was born in Detroit, and as an infant moved to Lathrup Village with his grandparents. A 2005 graduate of Southfield-Lathrup High School, Tarryl Hill and his cousin Steven Hill enlisted in the Marines last year without telling their grandparents.
The Hills, who later moved to Shelby Township, were not pleased.
"We are not against the military," George Hill said. "We are against the war. We knew it was not a good time to enlist."
The cousins stayed together until Tarryl Hill went to Iraq in December.
He loved the outdoors, bike riding and sports, especially basketball.
After the military, he planned to study chemical engineering at Lawrence Technical University.
"He knew how we felt, but we still supported him," George Hill said. "He kept insisting that nothing was going to happen to him. He was what he said he was: a Marine till the end."
'Flags remind me of him'
Christopher Esckelson had aspirations to become a doctor. But the Marines were always in his plans.
"He once told me: 'Mom, if I would have been valedictorian, I still would have been a Marine,' " his mother, Michelle Hill, 48, said this week. "That was his path."
Esckelson, who grew up in Vassar, north of Frankenmuth, was killed Dec. 28, two days shy of his 23rd birthday.
His father, David Esckelson, said he never wavered in supporting in his son or the war.
"But I do believe that we need to get this damn war done," said David Esckelson, 48, of Vassar. "I don't want his death to be in vain. But 3,500 deaths is enough."
Moved by other military families that attended her son's funeral, Michelle Hill said she joined the Patriot Guard, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts that attend military funerals to show support.
Two days after she buried her son, she attended the visitation in Kawkawlin of a fallen soldier.
She also attended the funeral of 22-year-old Kenny Van Slyke, a Marine from Bay City, killed in combat Feb. 27, in Anbar province.
"I just wanted to go to the funerals to support the families emotionally and let them know that I appreciate them," said Hill, who works for the post office in Vassar. "In a way, it's therapy. I plan to go to more funerals. I want to help the other parents."
The Free Press featured Esckelson in a photo published on Christmas Eve that was part of a series of articles on his unit.
He was an avid hunter and artist who played sports in school, including football.
"I walk on my mail route every day, and I don't have a radio," his mother said. "So I think about him constantly. I see all the American flags out, and I like to see that support. The flags remind me of him."
'Fighting for the right reasons'
The Free Press showcased Sgt. Bryan Burgess' funeral in a video on its Web site.
Loved ones spoke of how, at age 35, he didn't want to leave the younger Marines without guidance as they prepared to deploy to Iraq.
A sniper shot Burgess in the face Nov. 9 in Fallujah, killing him. Burgess grew up in Westland.
His mother, Evelyn Burgess, 61, said her religious faith has kept her grounded.
"I just tell myself that Bryan's in a better place than we are," she said. "He's with God and his Grandpa Burgess."
Burgess said she still thinks about talking to the other Marines about the circumstances surrounding her son's death.
"I want to know what his last words were," she said. "Did he die instantly? What was he doing before he was shot? What was he talking about?"
Burgess' belief in the war hasn't changed.
"War is ugly, but I believe Bryan was fighting for the right reasons," she said. "He couldn't wait to come home and kiss the ground. But he also knew that he might not come home, and he believed in his cause.
"My attitude hasn't changed."
'It would just be too hard'
Evelyn Burgess said she knows she's welcome at any homecoming for Marines in Michigan. She just couldn't handle it.
"Oh my God, I'm overjoyed for those families," she said. "It would just be too hard for me to see those boys stepping off a bus or off a plane. That's for their families and friends."
Tarryl Hill's grandmother, Sue Dean Hill, feels the same way.
"It's not like I don't like that they're coming back," she said. "I'm very happy for those parents. I'm just a little sad that Tarryl is not with them."
Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com.
Ellie