thedrifter
06-16-07, 06:16 AM
June 15, 2007 - 11:35PM
Heroes a ‘part of our family’
CHRISSY VICK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
For Tammy Delle, the emotion
of Friday’s memorial service
was like going to her son’s
funeral all over again.
But she said it was worth it.
A teary Delle faced a crowd
of her son’s fellow Marines on
Friday afternoon to say that
they, alongside her 20-year-old
son, were heroes.
But Marines had already labeled
her the hero.
Delle’s son, Cpl. David Bass,
was one of three Marines honored
Friday in a memorial dedication
ceremony at Camp Johnson.
Bass, Capt. Sean Brock and
Gunnery Sgt. John Fry were
former students of Camp Johnson’s
Financial Management
School and all served as financial
technicians or officers.
Marines at the school built a
memorial, composed of a weapon
standing in a pair of boots
with a helmet and dog tags, as
a way to allow their friends’
memories to live on. It will
stand inside the entrance to the
Financial Management School
at Camp Johnson.
The school has also dedicated
three classrooms in the Marines’
honor.
“Our heroes are gone, but
they’re not forgotten and
they’re still a part of our family,”
said Chief Warrant Officer
2 Anthony Garcia, a finance officer
who took on the 14-month
project.
Garcia worked with Fry, who
later made a lateral move to
become an explosive ordnance
technician and died after being
wounded by an improvised explosive
device near Habbaniyah,
Iraq.
Fry’s wife, Malia, and daughter,
Kathryn, both attended the
memorial service.
“We thank you for allowing
us in some small way to express
our gratitude to our fallen comrades,”
said Col. Grover Lewis
III, commanding officer of the
Marine Corps Combat Service
Support Schools, to the family
members.
He called the men heroes,
adding that they displayed
true honor, courage and
commitment.
“We gather to treasure and
praise these brothers who have
been lost to us and thereby
make the memory more meaningful,”
Lewis said. “If you
want to see the real monument
of the men we memorialize today,
just look around.”
Lt. Col. Michael Cordero,
commanding officer of the Financial
Management School,
said the financial community
in the Marine Corps is a tightly
knit group of more than 1,200
Marines.
“Everybody knows everybody,”
he said. “We can never
forget, and we won’t forget.”
Cordero worked with Brock,
a finance officer who died after
a mortar attack in his second
tour to Iraq in February 2005.
While it wasn’t common for
financial officers and technicians
to attach to infantry units
before the Iraq war, it is something
that is becoming a regular
need, Garcia said.
“We now provide commanders
an additional resource to
build rapport with (the Iraqi)
people,” he said. “Just like infantry
Marines, they’re now on
the front lines.”
Finance Marines ensure that
units have the supplies they
need, while also offering condolence
payments to local Iraqi
people if their property is damaged
in the war. They also meet
with local Iraqi tribes to help
rebuild cities and make sure
that general needs such as electricity
and water are being met,
Garcia said.
That’s something Delle said
she never realized her son could
be doing. But it was something
she said he did with pride.
“He very much believed
in the purpose — that he was
there to defend his country,”
she said. “He had found his
brotherhood.”
Contact Chrissy Vick at
cvick@freedomenc.com or by
calling 353-1171, ext. 8466.
Ellie
Heroes a ‘part of our family’
CHRISSY VICK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
For Tammy Delle, the emotion
of Friday’s memorial service
was like going to her son’s
funeral all over again.
But she said it was worth it.
A teary Delle faced a crowd
of her son’s fellow Marines on
Friday afternoon to say that
they, alongside her 20-year-old
son, were heroes.
But Marines had already labeled
her the hero.
Delle’s son, Cpl. David Bass,
was one of three Marines honored
Friday in a memorial dedication
ceremony at Camp Johnson.
Bass, Capt. Sean Brock and
Gunnery Sgt. John Fry were
former students of Camp Johnson’s
Financial Management
School and all served as financial
technicians or officers.
Marines at the school built a
memorial, composed of a weapon
standing in a pair of boots
with a helmet and dog tags, as
a way to allow their friends’
memories to live on. It will
stand inside the entrance to the
Financial Management School
at Camp Johnson.
The school has also dedicated
three classrooms in the Marines’
honor.
“Our heroes are gone, but
they’re not forgotten and
they’re still a part of our family,”
said Chief Warrant Officer
2 Anthony Garcia, a finance officer
who took on the 14-month
project.
Garcia worked with Fry, who
later made a lateral move to
become an explosive ordnance
technician and died after being
wounded by an improvised explosive
device near Habbaniyah,
Iraq.
Fry’s wife, Malia, and daughter,
Kathryn, both attended the
memorial service.
“We thank you for allowing
us in some small way to express
our gratitude to our fallen comrades,”
said Col. Grover Lewis
III, commanding officer of the
Marine Corps Combat Service
Support Schools, to the family
members.
He called the men heroes,
adding that they displayed
true honor, courage and
commitment.
“We gather to treasure and
praise these brothers who have
been lost to us and thereby
make the memory more meaningful,”
Lewis said. “If you
want to see the real monument
of the men we memorialize today,
just look around.”
Lt. Col. Michael Cordero,
commanding officer of the Financial
Management School,
said the financial community
in the Marine Corps is a tightly
knit group of more than 1,200
Marines.
“Everybody knows everybody,”
he said. “We can never
forget, and we won’t forget.”
Cordero worked with Brock,
a finance officer who died after
a mortar attack in his second
tour to Iraq in February 2005.
While it wasn’t common for
financial officers and technicians
to attach to infantry units
before the Iraq war, it is something
that is becoming a regular
need, Garcia said.
“We now provide commanders
an additional resource to
build rapport with (the Iraqi)
people,” he said. “Just like infantry
Marines, they’re now on
the front lines.”
Finance Marines ensure that
units have the supplies they
need, while also offering condolence
payments to local Iraqi
people if their property is damaged
in the war. They also meet
with local Iraqi tribes to help
rebuild cities and make sure
that general needs such as electricity
and water are being met,
Garcia said.
That’s something Delle said
she never realized her son could
be doing. But it was something
she said he did with pride.
“He very much believed
in the purpose — that he was
there to defend his country,”
she said. “He had found his
brotherhood.”
Contact Chrissy Vick at
cvick@freedomenc.com or by
calling 353-1171, ext. 8466.
Ellie