thedrifter
06-30-07, 07:28 AM
Newlywed Marine faces 3rd Iraq tour
By JOEL ELLIOTT
Staff Writer
Friday, June 29, 2007
OAKLAND -- U.S. Marine Sgt. Nick Mayhew has seen fellow Marines fall in combat. He's heard snipers' bullets ricochet past his head inside his Humvee.
Early Thursday evening, he married his girlfriend, just a week before he will return to Iraq for his third tour of duty there. A lawn full of friends and family helped celebrate the occasion. The rain held off during the casual half-hour ceremony held in her parents' backyard.
Mayhew, a 24-year-old Skowhegan resident, and his new wife, Shannon (Cole) Mayhew, 26, plan to take a three-day honeymoon before he leaves.
A combat engineer, Mayhew in 2004 fought on the front lines of Fallujah, the site of some of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq war.
The two know they may not see one another again after he leaves on July 9.
They decided to get married "in case he didn't come back," Shannon Cole said before the ceremony.
It's a very real possibility, but Mayhew appeared calm.
"If it's my time, it's my time," he said. "It's not right for me to be sitting here while the rest of the guys are out there."
One of Mayhew's jobs in Fallujah was to use explosives to blast open doors of houses suspected of sheltering insurgents as he and fellow Marines fought the battle door-to-door through the city.
One of his closest brushes with death came after the group of Marines had moved in this manner through several buildings. At one door, one of the Marines, a friend of Mayhew, stopped him from setting the explosives, he said.
"He said, 'This looks like an easy one. I'll just kick it open,'" Mayhew recalled. "They shot through the door and hit him nine times -- once in the neck."
The wounded Marine tried once to raise his rifle and return fire through the door, but quickly fell to the ground, bleeding. The other Marines secured the area and carried him back to a medic, Mayhew said.
"The medic told us he was all right, just to get us through the day, I think. But, by the end of the day, we kind of guessed he didn't make it," he said.
Suicide bombings and constant violence in Iraq make any job dangerous, and Mayhew faces as much risk as anyone. His family knows he may not return, but they are supportive, his new father-in-law, Chip Cole said.
"Somebody's got to go over there," he added. "If they'd take me back, I'd go."
When Mayhew leaves for Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune for training, his wife plans to stay with her parents in Oakland. The Marine Corps has called on Mayhew to serve for seven months, but with no end to the war in sight, his tour could be extended, she said, leaving her behind to wait.
"It will definitely be hard," she said.
Joel Elliott -- 861-9252
jelliott@centralmaine.com
Ellie
By JOEL ELLIOTT
Staff Writer
Friday, June 29, 2007
OAKLAND -- U.S. Marine Sgt. Nick Mayhew has seen fellow Marines fall in combat. He's heard snipers' bullets ricochet past his head inside his Humvee.
Early Thursday evening, he married his girlfriend, just a week before he will return to Iraq for his third tour of duty there. A lawn full of friends and family helped celebrate the occasion. The rain held off during the casual half-hour ceremony held in her parents' backyard.
Mayhew, a 24-year-old Skowhegan resident, and his new wife, Shannon (Cole) Mayhew, 26, plan to take a three-day honeymoon before he leaves.
A combat engineer, Mayhew in 2004 fought on the front lines of Fallujah, the site of some of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq war.
The two know they may not see one another again after he leaves on July 9.
They decided to get married "in case he didn't come back," Shannon Cole said before the ceremony.
It's a very real possibility, but Mayhew appeared calm.
"If it's my time, it's my time," he said. "It's not right for me to be sitting here while the rest of the guys are out there."
One of Mayhew's jobs in Fallujah was to use explosives to blast open doors of houses suspected of sheltering insurgents as he and fellow Marines fought the battle door-to-door through the city.
One of his closest brushes with death came after the group of Marines had moved in this manner through several buildings. At one door, one of the Marines, a friend of Mayhew, stopped him from setting the explosives, he said.
"He said, 'This looks like an easy one. I'll just kick it open,'" Mayhew recalled. "They shot through the door and hit him nine times -- once in the neck."
The wounded Marine tried once to raise his rifle and return fire through the door, but quickly fell to the ground, bleeding. The other Marines secured the area and carried him back to a medic, Mayhew said.
"The medic told us he was all right, just to get us through the day, I think. But, by the end of the day, we kind of guessed he didn't make it," he said.
Suicide bombings and constant violence in Iraq make any job dangerous, and Mayhew faces as much risk as anyone. His family knows he may not return, but they are supportive, his new father-in-law, Chip Cole said.
"Somebody's got to go over there," he added. "If they'd take me back, I'd go."
When Mayhew leaves for Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune for training, his wife plans to stay with her parents in Oakland. The Marine Corps has called on Mayhew to serve for seven months, but with no end to the war in sight, his tour could be extended, she said, leaving her behind to wait.
"It will definitely be hard," she said.
Joel Elliott -- 861-9252
jelliott@centralmaine.com
Ellie