thedrifter
05-02-07, 06:43 AM
Two local U.S. Marines and longtime friends are glad to be back home in Rutherford County after serving nine months in Iraq.
Daily News Journal
Jake Taylor and Nick Persinger, both 21-year-old lance corporals, returned to Tennessee Saturday.
The two have known each other since they were 6 or 7. They attended Central Middle School together and graduated from Oakland High School in 2004.
"Nick was with me every single day," Taylor said. "It makes a difference. You know that your best friend is standing right beside you."
The Marines are members of the Marine Forces Reserve's Third Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Fourth Marine Division. Lance Cpl. Oketa Ojok, another longtime friend and classmate of the two, also served with them in Iraq and returned home Saturday.
Four Marines from their unit died in Iraq — including Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, 30, who was killed in action on March 27 in the Al Anbar province — as well as six members of the company and 22 members of the battalion, Taylor said.
Marc Golczynski was born in Georgia, grew up in Lewisburg and lived and worked in Murfreesboro when not stationed abroad.
Golczynski's father, Henry Golczynski, attended Saturday's homecoming and received condolences from other families and Marines.
"He believed in what he was doing and he died doing for his country," Henry Golczynski told WTVF-TV in Nashville.
Taylor and Persinger said they recently attended a memorial service in California in which a Daily News Journal photograph featuring 8-year-old Christian Golczynski accepting the flag at the funeral of his father brought many of the 1,500 Marines to tears.
Taylor said there was fear and grief associated with being in the war, but while on duty he tried to put those thoughts and feelings out of his mind.
"If you get weak or miss a step, you endanger everyone else," he said. "You deal with it on your own terms, try not to think about it."
Progress is being made in Iraq, and the Iraqi Army is comprised of men serious about their duties and their country, Taylor said.
Persinger said he doesn't feel any different after serving in Iraq.
"I'm the same basic guy," Persinger said.
When asked what he had missed most about home, Persinger did not hesitate before saying "beer" but added he had missed his friends and family.
For now the two are glad to be home, where they are safe, don't have to wear uniforms and can relax in the air conditioning.
The two friends said they plan to spend "a while" hanging out before thinking about jobs or school. Taylor said he plans to attend MTSU in the fall, and Persinger said he's going to have to look for a job at some point, but he's putting that off as long as he can.
Taylor's parents said they were excited and relieved to have their son home.
"I joked to my son that this is the second time I'd waited for him for nine months and with the same level of anticipation," said his mother, Kathy Taylor.
She said that both her son and Persinger had signed up for the reserves, at least in part, to help pay for college.
Boyd Taylor, the Marine's father, said he was proud of the job his son was doing, regardless of disagreements about how the war began.
"We elected a president who made the decision to go to war, and we've got to support that," Boyd Taylor said. "Political views don't matter. We've made the decision, we're there, so let's support them."
The two Marines have been told they will be deployed again, though that deployment would be at least a year away, Jake Taylor said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Ellie
Daily News Journal
Jake Taylor and Nick Persinger, both 21-year-old lance corporals, returned to Tennessee Saturday.
The two have known each other since they were 6 or 7. They attended Central Middle School together and graduated from Oakland High School in 2004.
"Nick was with me every single day," Taylor said. "It makes a difference. You know that your best friend is standing right beside you."
The Marines are members of the Marine Forces Reserve's Third Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Fourth Marine Division. Lance Cpl. Oketa Ojok, another longtime friend and classmate of the two, also served with them in Iraq and returned home Saturday.
Four Marines from their unit died in Iraq — including Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, 30, who was killed in action on March 27 in the Al Anbar province — as well as six members of the company and 22 members of the battalion, Taylor said.
Marc Golczynski was born in Georgia, grew up in Lewisburg and lived and worked in Murfreesboro when not stationed abroad.
Golczynski's father, Henry Golczynski, attended Saturday's homecoming and received condolences from other families and Marines.
"He believed in what he was doing and he died doing for his country," Henry Golczynski told WTVF-TV in Nashville.
Taylor and Persinger said they recently attended a memorial service in California in which a Daily News Journal photograph featuring 8-year-old Christian Golczynski accepting the flag at the funeral of his father brought many of the 1,500 Marines to tears.
Taylor said there was fear and grief associated with being in the war, but while on duty he tried to put those thoughts and feelings out of his mind.
"If you get weak or miss a step, you endanger everyone else," he said. "You deal with it on your own terms, try not to think about it."
Progress is being made in Iraq, and the Iraqi Army is comprised of men serious about their duties and their country, Taylor said.
Persinger said he doesn't feel any different after serving in Iraq.
"I'm the same basic guy," Persinger said.
When asked what he had missed most about home, Persinger did not hesitate before saying "beer" but added he had missed his friends and family.
For now the two are glad to be home, where they are safe, don't have to wear uniforms and can relax in the air conditioning.
The two friends said they plan to spend "a while" hanging out before thinking about jobs or school. Taylor said he plans to attend MTSU in the fall, and Persinger said he's going to have to look for a job at some point, but he's putting that off as long as he can.
Taylor's parents said they were excited and relieved to have their son home.
"I joked to my son that this is the second time I'd waited for him for nine months and with the same level of anticipation," said his mother, Kathy Taylor.
She said that both her son and Persinger had signed up for the reserves, at least in part, to help pay for college.
Boyd Taylor, the Marine's father, said he was proud of the job his son was doing, regardless of disagreements about how the war began.
"We elected a president who made the decision to go to war, and we've got to support that," Boyd Taylor said. "Political views don't matter. We've made the decision, we're there, so let's support them."
The two Marines have been told they will be deployed again, though that deployment would be at least a year away, Jake Taylor said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Ellie