thedrifter
05-18-07, 08:48 AM
Feelings for war have evolved: Local man’s personal experience has profound effect on beliefs
By Connie Cartmell, ccartmell@mariettatimes.com
In just a few short weeks Eugene Haught, 69, of Reno will travel to San Antonio to visit with his grandson, Marine Lance Cpl. Anson Lee Roberts.
There is great joy and anticipation about the coming reunion. Roberts is excited to see his grandson, but there is equal sorrow and concern about his serious circumstances.
“My grandson, Anson Roberts, who is just 21, was critically wounded in Iraq last month when the Humvee he was driving with four other Marines, was blown up,” Haught wrote in a letter to The Marietta Times.
Roberts was burned over 35 percent of his body and will lose three fingers to the knuckle from each of his hands. He is currently recovering at a burn hospital in Texas.
“He’s walking pretty good now and is actually out of the burn center and staying close to the hospital in apartments provided for patients recuperating,” Haught said. “His skin grafts will take one to two years to heal, and physically and mentally, his healing will take years.”
His grandson is alive though, and Haught is thankful for that.
“He is blessed,” he said.
Haught remembers the 10 to 15 trips he made to Alaska to visit his son and Roberts, who were living there at the time.
“I took Anson to get his driver’s license when he was 16,” Haught said. “He has always been interested in cars and in sports. He’s quiet, very nice.”
Nina Haught has warm memories of her grandson’s love of her special, “no-bake” cookies.
“He always called me ‘Mi-Mi,’ and said my no-bake cookies were always soft and so good,” she said. “He and I loved chocolate. In fact, I sent him five pounds of bulk chocolate from Amish country.”
Roberts once planted a pine tree for his grandmother.
After years in Alaska with his father, the young man later moved to Powell, Ohio, to live with his aunt, Vonnie Voorhis, and finish three years of high school at Olentangy-Liberty. Shortly after graduation, he joined the Marines.
He played football in high school and always was interested in the military, Haught said.
Roberts had only served in Iraq since January.
“We talked to Anson when he was still in Iraq, after he was injured. It was his second injury, actually. The first time, they blew out the window in his Humvee,” Haught said. “This will be the first time we’ve seen him since he got back.”
Early on, Haught was among those who supported the war in Iraq, but, over time, his feelings have “evolved,” he said.
“It’s a terrible thing. In the same hospital where he has been, there are young men and women with arms and legs blown off, half their faces blown off,” he said. “My feelings have evolved since everything began to go wrong over there. It’s changed my thinking entirely.”
Haught wants the United States out of Iraq, but said the withdrawal must be gradual.
“We can’t just leave all at once,” he said. “As many people as they’ve killed over there themselves, they don’t care about life. The bad part is the mental anguish our soldiers are going through.”
Ellie
By Connie Cartmell, ccartmell@mariettatimes.com
In just a few short weeks Eugene Haught, 69, of Reno will travel to San Antonio to visit with his grandson, Marine Lance Cpl. Anson Lee Roberts.
There is great joy and anticipation about the coming reunion. Roberts is excited to see his grandson, but there is equal sorrow and concern about his serious circumstances.
“My grandson, Anson Roberts, who is just 21, was critically wounded in Iraq last month when the Humvee he was driving with four other Marines, was blown up,” Haught wrote in a letter to The Marietta Times.
Roberts was burned over 35 percent of his body and will lose three fingers to the knuckle from each of his hands. He is currently recovering at a burn hospital in Texas.
“He’s walking pretty good now and is actually out of the burn center and staying close to the hospital in apartments provided for patients recuperating,” Haught said. “His skin grafts will take one to two years to heal, and physically and mentally, his healing will take years.”
His grandson is alive though, and Haught is thankful for that.
“He is blessed,” he said.
Haught remembers the 10 to 15 trips he made to Alaska to visit his son and Roberts, who were living there at the time.
“I took Anson to get his driver’s license when he was 16,” Haught said. “He has always been interested in cars and in sports. He’s quiet, very nice.”
Nina Haught has warm memories of her grandson’s love of her special, “no-bake” cookies.
“He always called me ‘Mi-Mi,’ and said my no-bake cookies were always soft and so good,” she said. “He and I loved chocolate. In fact, I sent him five pounds of bulk chocolate from Amish country.”
Roberts once planted a pine tree for his grandmother.
After years in Alaska with his father, the young man later moved to Powell, Ohio, to live with his aunt, Vonnie Voorhis, and finish three years of high school at Olentangy-Liberty. Shortly after graduation, he joined the Marines.
He played football in high school and always was interested in the military, Haught said.
Roberts had only served in Iraq since January.
“We talked to Anson when he was still in Iraq, after he was injured. It was his second injury, actually. The first time, they blew out the window in his Humvee,” Haught said. “This will be the first time we’ve seen him since he got back.”
Early on, Haught was among those who supported the war in Iraq, but, over time, his feelings have “evolved,” he said.
“It’s a terrible thing. In the same hospital where he has been, there are young men and women with arms and legs blown off, half their faces blown off,” he said. “My feelings have evolved since everything began to go wrong over there. It’s changed my thinking entirely.”
Haught wants the United States out of Iraq, but said the withdrawal must be gradual.
“We can’t just leave all at once,” he said. “As many people as they’ve killed over there themselves, they don’t care about life. The bad part is the mental anguish our soldiers are going through.”
Ellie