thedrifter
08-30-07, 06:56 AM
Stony Point grad wounded in Iraq
John Mittlestedt and five high school friends enlisted in the Marines together.
By Isadora Vail
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 30, 2007
ROUND ROCK — When Round Rock native John Mittlestedt was injured over the weekend after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Iraq, his tightly knit group of high school friends heard the news within a day or two.
It hit particularly close to home because Mittlestedt is part of a group of six Stony Point High School students who enlisted in the Marines together after graduation last year. Two others are currently serving in Iraq.
Mittlestedt is the only member of the group to sustain a major injury. He's expected to fully recover and will return to the U.S. this week to recuperate.
Mittlestedt, 20, was traveling in the city of Saqlawiyah, in Anbar province, on Saturday with fellow Marines when their Hummer struck the bomb, said his mother, Jackie Hoover. One Marine was killed, she said.
Mittlestedt is assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and was stationed in Camp Pendleton, Calif., she said.
A Camp Pendleton spokeswoman wouldn't confirm details of the incident, but a Department of Defense news release said a Houston Marine in Mittlestedt's division died Saturday during combat operations in Anbar province.
"I didn't take the news well at all, but it's what he wanted to do," Hoover said. "I just can't wait for him to come home."
Mittlestedt's group of friends, who are 19 and 20 years old, met in the ROTC program at Stony Point and are stationed all over the world. Along with Mittlestedt, Pfc. Stephen Sheriff and Lance Cpl. Nickoli Diamond are stationed in Iraq; Lance Cpl. Stetson Cates and Lance Cpl. Brandon Iglehart are serving in Okinawa, Japan; and Pfc. Matthew Whitehouse is stationed in North Carolina.
Whitehouse's mother, Denese Weems, said the six are supportive of one another and compete to see who will be next to get the highest ranking.
"When Nickoli and Brandon heard about John, they were ready to get back to fighting for their buddy," Weems said. "It just fires them up that much more."
The friends keep up with one another through the social networking Web site MySpace. A few of them plan on returning to Williamson County for Christmas.
Holly Templeton was also in ROTC with the group — "my boys," she calls them. She talks to them every other day through e-mail or on the phone.
"I've never met a group like them. They are irreplaceable," Templeton said. "If you can't find one of them, just call another and make your way down the list. They know how to find each other."
Dwayne Eubanks, a retired Marine first sergeant and an ROTC instructor at Stony Point, said he had Mittlestedt, Sheriff and Iglehart in his class. Eubanks said all three showed signs of strong leadership early on.
"They all keep in touch with me. I hear from at least one of them when something is going on," Eubanks said. "I couldn't be any more proud of them."
ivail@statesman.com; 246-0053
Ellie
John Mittlestedt and five high school friends enlisted in the Marines together.
By Isadora Vail
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 30, 2007
ROUND ROCK — When Round Rock native John Mittlestedt was injured over the weekend after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Iraq, his tightly knit group of high school friends heard the news within a day or two.
It hit particularly close to home because Mittlestedt is part of a group of six Stony Point High School students who enlisted in the Marines together after graduation last year. Two others are currently serving in Iraq.
Mittlestedt is the only member of the group to sustain a major injury. He's expected to fully recover and will return to the U.S. this week to recuperate.
Mittlestedt, 20, was traveling in the city of Saqlawiyah, in Anbar province, on Saturday with fellow Marines when their Hummer struck the bomb, said his mother, Jackie Hoover. One Marine was killed, she said.
Mittlestedt is assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and was stationed in Camp Pendleton, Calif., she said.
A Camp Pendleton spokeswoman wouldn't confirm details of the incident, but a Department of Defense news release said a Houston Marine in Mittlestedt's division died Saturday during combat operations in Anbar province.
"I didn't take the news well at all, but it's what he wanted to do," Hoover said. "I just can't wait for him to come home."
Mittlestedt's group of friends, who are 19 and 20 years old, met in the ROTC program at Stony Point and are stationed all over the world. Along with Mittlestedt, Pfc. Stephen Sheriff and Lance Cpl. Nickoli Diamond are stationed in Iraq; Lance Cpl. Stetson Cates and Lance Cpl. Brandon Iglehart are serving in Okinawa, Japan; and Pfc. Matthew Whitehouse is stationed in North Carolina.
Whitehouse's mother, Denese Weems, said the six are supportive of one another and compete to see who will be next to get the highest ranking.
"When Nickoli and Brandon heard about John, they were ready to get back to fighting for their buddy," Weems said. "It just fires them up that much more."
The friends keep up with one another through the social networking Web site MySpace. A few of them plan on returning to Williamson County for Christmas.
Holly Templeton was also in ROTC with the group — "my boys," she calls them. She talks to them every other day through e-mail or on the phone.
"I've never met a group like them. They are irreplaceable," Templeton said. "If you can't find one of them, just call another and make your way down the list. They know how to find each other."
Dwayne Eubanks, a retired Marine first sergeant and an ROTC instructor at Stony Point, said he had Mittlestedt, Sheriff and Iglehart in his class. Eubanks said all three showed signs of strong leadership early on.
"They all keep in touch with me. I hear from at least one of them when something is going on," Eubanks said. "I couldn't be any more proud of them."
ivail@statesman.com; 246-0053
Ellie