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thedrifter
05-27-07, 07:01 AM
True to the Corps
Maj. Doug Zembiec lived the way he fought fully committed to doing the right thing
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

May 27, 2007

TAFF WRITER

The e-mail contained a single line: “It is with regrets that I pass on the sad news that Major Zembiec was KIA in Iraq.”

The note arrived May 11, the same day Marine Maj. Douglas A. Zembiec died during combat in Baghdad. He was 34.

Attached to the e-mail was a story I had written about Doug for last Veterans Day. The article highlighted his valor and his unit's heroics in the spring 2004 battle of Fallujah, one of the fiercest chapters of fighting in the Iraq war. That summer, The San Diego Union-Tribune had sent me and photographer Nelvin C. Cepeda to embed with his Camp Pendleton unit for six weeks.

Like many Marines and journalists, we left Iraq impressed by Doug's battlefield prowess, selfless leadership and unwavering idealism. He had one motto, which he repeated often: “The truth will set you free.”

More than 2,000 people attended his May 16 memorial service in Annapolis, Md., including generals, civilians and about 40 enlisted troops who came from San Diego and elsewhere to honor their former commander.

The tribute reminded me of what Doug said during my final interview with him: “I believe in what we are doing (in Iraq), and I want to get back over there and finish the job. I think that as horrible as it is to lose Marines, it is an unfortunate sacrifice that we have to take to accomplish our mission. ... I truly, really believe in this.”

When Nel and I embedded with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in late June 2004, we received a less-than-enthusiastic reception. One company commander was barely civil about the idea of having journalists alongside his men. Another commander was indifferent, at best.

That left then-Capt. Douglas A. Zembiec, the charismatic commander of Echo Company, whose reputation as a warrior, even among the battle-tested, bordered on the mythic.

Every Marine seemed to know Zembiec's story: How on April 26, 2004, he dodged bullets in Fallujah, climbed aboard a tank and showed several Marines where to fire at insurgents despite being wounded. He then moved among several buildings, exhorting troops to hold their own against thousands of rounds from the enemy.

His frontline action brought him a Bronze Star for valor. The medal citation read: “Wherever the battle raged with intensity, Zembiec could be found inspiring Marines to aggressively repel the enemy's determined assault.”

Doug wasn't just a lion in combat, a description he reserved for his men. The former All-America wrestler from the U.S. Naval Academy instilled confidence with his mere physical presence – 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 171 pounds of assuredness. No matter how bad things were, seeing Doug made you believe everything would work out.

The first time I met Doug, he was exercising outside his command post in 100-degree-plus heat. He did pull-ups before heading off for a three-mile run in the Iraqi desert.

But what really set Doug apart was something I can only describe as spiritual graciousness. I never heard him yell or raise his voice to anyone. He treated people as equals, and in doing so lifted them. Marines said they would fight in hell if he were leading them.

Doug was absolutely committed to doing the right thing, and killing the enemy was absolutely the right thing. He didn't mind saying so to journalists.

“Killing is not wrong if it's for a purpose, if it's to keep your nation free or protect your buddy,” he said in a Los Angeles Times article. “One of the most noble things you can do is kill the enemy.”

Doug carried around several reminders of war's vagaries.

One was an AK-47 slug that once sat lodged in the codpiece of his body armor.

“That was a little close,” Zembiec said with a crooked smile during an interview almost three years ago in Iraq. “It must have been a ricochet, because it would've gone through if it weren't.”

The near miss was a byproduct of the attack he led on insurgents in Fallujah after some of them killed four U.S. contractors, including one from San Diego, on March 31, 2004.

During a month of fighting, two Echo Company Marines were killed and 50 were wounded. Insurgent deaths numbered in the hundreds, according to Pentagon reports.

Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Austin was one of the fallen Marines. The letter that Doug wrote to Aaron's family is memorialized in “Operation Homecoming,” a war anthology published last year.

Doug wrote: “Despite intense enemy machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade fire, your son fought like a lion. He remained in his fighting position until all his wounded comrades could be evacuated from the rooftop they were defending. It was during his courageous defense of his comrades that Aaron was hit by enemy fire.

“With the exception of the Marines on security, every man in the company attended the service. ... His death brought tears to my eyes, tears that fell in front of my Marines. I am unashamed of that fact.”

After returning to Camp Pendleton in October 2004, Doug became a major and got transferred to the 1st Special Warfare Training Group at the Pentagon.

The last time I saw him in person was during an interview in March 2005. For more than an hour, Doug, Nel and I talked about the Iraq war and his approaching wedding.

But mostly, Doug spoke of the Marines he led in Fallujah. He choked up recounting their honor, integrity and bravery.

Over the past two years, I called him every few months just to catch up. I often got his voice mail because he was in Iraq or Afghanistan. When we did talk, he would rave about his daughter, Fallyn, and his wife, Pam, who live in Annapolis.

Our final conversation took place about a week before he returned to Iraq for, as it turns out, the last time. I told him to be careful, and he told me again that I had a place to stay the next time I got back East.

I complained about the military withholding some information, perhaps to save itself from embarrassment.

“The truth will set you free,” Doug intoned.

Douglas A. Zembiec1973-2007

Rank: Marine Corps major.

Hometown: Albuquerque, N.M.

Education: U.S. NavalAcademy graduate, 1995.

Service: Led Camp Pendleton's Echo Company in battle of Fallujah, 2004. Also served in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Was on his fourth tour in Iraq when he died May 11.

Family: Wife, Pamela, and1-year-old daughter, Fallyn.

Ellie