thedrifter
07-09-07, 06:01 AM
Going to war: Westhill grad matures by joining the Marines
By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
July 9, 2007
STAMFORD - Katy Gale remembers the day her youngest child told her he had stopped at the U.S. Marines Corps recruiting office on the way home from Westhill High School.
"I said, 'You didn't sign anything, did you?' " she recalled.
It was November 2004, and the war in Iraq had been raging for nearly two years. Stephan Gale, who spent much of high school playing hockey and lacrosse and puffing away at the tuba in marching band, never showed interest in the military. Then a friend from his lacrosse team who was enlisting in the Marines suggested he join, too.
"He was like, 'Dude, I'm signing up for the Marines. You should come down and talk to the recruiter.' And I was like, well, I don't have any practices. So I did," Stephan said. "It was a kind of spur-of-the-moment kind of thing."
Katy wondered what her son had gotten himself into.
Nearly three years later, as 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Stephan Gale heads to war, Katy is beaming with pride. She has seen a dramatic change in Stephan since he shaved off his shaggy, reddish-blond curls for a regulation crew cut. He emerged from boot camp several pounds lighter, with an air of maturity.
"You would expect a young person to mature as they grow older, but it's a pretty dramatic change when they enter the military, as opposed to college where you get four buffer years," she said.
In less than two years, Stephan has become a diesel mechanic and is thinking about attending college when gets out of the Marines in two years.
"I thought it was a very good choice for him, even though it was a shock at first, because it wasn't on my radar," his mother said.
Stephan, who grew up on Beachview Drive in the Cove neighborhood with his mother, older sister Maddy and three uncles, left yesterday for California, where he will train for his deployment to Iraq in September.
He will be stationed in Haditha in Anbar province, northwest of Baghdad, where he is expecting to fix Humvees for seven or eight months, possibly longer.
He hopes to see the high school friend who encouraged him to enlist, Michael Belmont, who is stationed at Camp Al-Asad.
Stephan shrugs off any suggestion he is entering a dangerous situation. When he's in Iraq, he said, he will go to work every day just like anyone else.
"I don't think there is a risk," he said. "I'm more likely to die in a car accident over here than in Iraq."
At least 3,598 U.S. troops have died since the war began in March 2003, according to The Associated Press.
Stephan's biggest fear is his mother fretting about his safety.
"He said I'm not allowed to worry," Katy said. "I said, 'It's my job.' "
The family was preparing for his departure, brushing up on military lingo and corresponding with others who have loved ones in Iraq on Web sites designed for families.
"I've been a hockey mom, a volleyball mom and a den mom," Katy said. "But a Marine mom - that's different."
She said she wished she had known about the support network sooner, saying she could have used it when Stephan left for boot camp.
Katy and Maddy have been blown away by the sense of community and concern military families have shown.
"It's an instant rapport," Katy said.
Maddy was walking her dog on Hope Street recently when a stranger noticed her Marine Corps sweatpants and stopped to ask who she knows in the military.
"He said, 'Wish him well,' " Maddy said.
Ellie
By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
July 9, 2007
STAMFORD - Katy Gale remembers the day her youngest child told her he had stopped at the U.S. Marines Corps recruiting office on the way home from Westhill High School.
"I said, 'You didn't sign anything, did you?' " she recalled.
It was November 2004, and the war in Iraq had been raging for nearly two years. Stephan Gale, who spent much of high school playing hockey and lacrosse and puffing away at the tuba in marching band, never showed interest in the military. Then a friend from his lacrosse team who was enlisting in the Marines suggested he join, too.
"He was like, 'Dude, I'm signing up for the Marines. You should come down and talk to the recruiter.' And I was like, well, I don't have any practices. So I did," Stephan said. "It was a kind of spur-of-the-moment kind of thing."
Katy wondered what her son had gotten himself into.
Nearly three years later, as 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Stephan Gale heads to war, Katy is beaming with pride. She has seen a dramatic change in Stephan since he shaved off his shaggy, reddish-blond curls for a regulation crew cut. He emerged from boot camp several pounds lighter, with an air of maturity.
"You would expect a young person to mature as they grow older, but it's a pretty dramatic change when they enter the military, as opposed to college where you get four buffer years," she said.
In less than two years, Stephan has become a diesel mechanic and is thinking about attending college when gets out of the Marines in two years.
"I thought it was a very good choice for him, even though it was a shock at first, because it wasn't on my radar," his mother said.
Stephan, who grew up on Beachview Drive in the Cove neighborhood with his mother, older sister Maddy and three uncles, left yesterday for California, where he will train for his deployment to Iraq in September.
He will be stationed in Haditha in Anbar province, northwest of Baghdad, where he is expecting to fix Humvees for seven or eight months, possibly longer.
He hopes to see the high school friend who encouraged him to enlist, Michael Belmont, who is stationed at Camp Al-Asad.
Stephan shrugs off any suggestion he is entering a dangerous situation. When he's in Iraq, he said, he will go to work every day just like anyone else.
"I don't think there is a risk," he said. "I'm more likely to die in a car accident over here than in Iraq."
At least 3,598 U.S. troops have died since the war began in March 2003, according to The Associated Press.
Stephan's biggest fear is his mother fretting about his safety.
"He said I'm not allowed to worry," Katy said. "I said, 'It's my job.' "
The family was preparing for his departure, brushing up on military lingo and corresponding with others who have loved ones in Iraq on Web sites designed for families.
"I've been a hockey mom, a volleyball mom and a den mom," Katy said. "But a Marine mom - that's different."
She said she wished she had known about the support network sooner, saying she could have used it when Stephan left for boot camp.
Katy and Maddy have been blown away by the sense of community and concern military families have shown.
"It's an instant rapport," Katy said.
Maddy was walking her dog on Hope Street recently when a stranger noticed her Marine Corps sweatpants and stopped to ask who she knows in the military.
"He said, 'Wish him well,' " Maddy said.
Ellie