thedrifter
09-17-07, 08:49 AM
5 friends to face Iraq war together
D.M. North High School grads leave for Marine training today
By MIKE MALLOY
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
September 17, 2007
Nate Woods remembers the uneven breaths and pulsing adrenaline of his first high school wrestling match. Woods, a 2005 Des Moines North High School graduate, was a freshman facing a tangible opponent on the mat, and an abstract one in his head - the desire to prove that he belonged.
That anxiety has returned for Woods, but the stakes this time are much higher.
Woods is one of five North graduates - Marine reservists called to active duty Sept. 5 - leaving today for desert training in California.
The group that wrestled and played football together in high school will spend the next three months preparing for deployment to Iraq in January.
"The anticipation is killing me," Woods said. "I want to get over there and get it over with."
Woods and fellow reservists Keith Ulrich, Drew Sobeck, David Negrete and Truc Nguyen, plus active-duty Marine Justin Sand, helped the combined North-Hoover wrestling team win the CIML Metro Conference championship in 2005.
It was North's first wrestling conference championship and the only league title this decade for the Polar Bears.
"They represented our school well on a local level, and now they're going to be representing something bigger," North-Hoover wrestling coach Gene Hildreth said.
Woods and Sobeck reported to boot camp - a place where phone calls are a privilege to be earned - days after graduating from North.
"They'll make you work till you're exhausted and start yelling at you," Woods said. "They break you down and build you back up the way they want you."
Ulrich said boot camp was "definitely the toughest thing I've ever gone through." He said that the physical aspect was similar to wrestling, but that the mental training was far more difficult.
"They like to play games, get inside your head," Ulrich said.
The North grads are competitive, but they're sticking together. Woods and Sobeck have been a resource for Ulrich, Negrete and Nguyen.
"Sometimes guys will be too nervous to talk to their senior Marine. Some have only been in the unit for six months, and they'll call me or Drew and ask us questions," Woods said.
Sobeck, who graduated in 2005 with Ulrich, helped train Negrete last year.
"Whenever I needed something, I'd go to him," Negrete said. "But he still can't beat me in wrestling."
Being a Marine is something that Sobeck has dreamed of "ever since I was little," he said. His uncle, Paul Havran, served with the corps in the 1980s.
Sobeck and Woods spent last summer in Israel learning about counterterrorism, training that will be invaluable for their mission.
"(The Israelis) are a lot more aggressive than we are," Woods said. "We kind of wait back and see what happens. They're like, 'Someone's firing at me, I'm going to get them before they get me.' "
That training gave Woods knowledge, but he knows it is no substitute for experience.
"Some of these guys, this is their fourth combat deployment. I feel like I need to step up my game twice as much as they do," Woods said. "I've never been there, and I want to come back."
The unit's tour is expected to last seven or eight months.
"Hopefully not much longer than that," Woods said.
The reservists - members of Company E, Second Battalion, 24th Regiment, Fourth Division, Fleet Marine Force - spent last week at Camp Dodge in Johnston.
The mobilization process included medical and dental screening, photographs for news releases, updating equipment, and writing a will.
Preparing that document was likely not the first time they had confronted the undeniable hazards of their new occupation. The same day they reported to Camp Dodge, nine American soldiers were killed in Iraq. More than 3,700 Americans have died so far in the 4-year conflict.
"I definitely don't want to die, but I've made my peace," Ulrich said. "If I die, I die."
Finding such peace is something all troops do in their own way. The importance of doing it can be explained, but the method of doing it cannot be taught.
"Some people in this unit may not come back," Sobeck said. "Some may come back handicapped. If I die, I do it defending my country, and I do it with honor."
Talk of the war has been inescapable, with Gen. David Petraeus, the chief U.S. military commander in Iraq, reporting last week that progress is being made and detailing when some of the troops will come home.
A recent USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that 60 percent of Americans favor a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Such figures fuel visceral debates about whether the war should be continued.
The argument is moot to Woods.
"We ignore it and go about doing our jobs," he said.
A different war touched Nguyen's family 40 years ago. Nguyen, who graduated in 2006, moved to Des Moines from Vietnam at age 2. His father and grandfather fought in that country's civil war - in which several million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans were killed - but their experience wasn't the reason Nguyen joined the military.
"They don't like to talk about it," he said.
Nguyen became interested in the Marines as a student in North's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, and he decided he didn't want to go to college immediately after high school.
Though he wasn't born an American, Nguyen's loyalty is undeniable.
"I went to Vietnam in 2000," he said. "The country is very poor, and I feel lucky that my family got to come over here. I wanted to give something back."
A birth, a wedding and two graduations. It's been a whirlwind six months for Sand, who graduated from North this year.
He will spend the next few months at Camp Pendleton's School of Infantry in California and then await deployment.
If Sand goes to Iraq, he will not be shoulder-to-shoulder with his former teammates.
Sand initially wanted to join his buddies in the reserves, but he became an active-duty Marine earlier this year so he could better financially provide for his daughter, Kaylee, who was born in March.
"During wrestling, we were always a big family," he said. "I've known all these guys for a really long time. It was a tough choice, but I think I made the right one."
Nguyen has been close friends with Sand since fifth grade, and the two have promised to keep in touch.
"He told me he'd call me a lot," Nguyen said.
There will be other calls for Sand to make. He and his fiancee, Erica Lambertz, accelerated their wedding plans and married Sept. 8, two days before Sand left for California.
Lazy summer days became a foreign concept for Sand, who spent 13 weeks in boot camp.
The swelling of pride his mother, Sue, felt when he was presented with his eagle, globe and anchor medal - concluding the transition from recruit to Marine - was more than the family's camcorder could handle.
"The videotape is shaking all over," Sue Sand said. "I am very proud of what he's doing. He made these choices for the right reasons, but it scares me to death."
Sue Sand is trying her best to delay worrying about her son until he's in a combat zone.
"When he first enlisted, I had my nightmares where I sat straight up in bed," she said. "I'd go back to sleep and dream of the headline: North-Hoover wrestlers capture Osama bin Laden."
Reporter Mike Malloy can be reached at (515) 284-8158 or mmalloy@dmreg.com
Ellie
D.M. North High School grads leave for Marine training today
By MIKE MALLOY
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
September 17, 2007
Nate Woods remembers the uneven breaths and pulsing adrenaline of his first high school wrestling match. Woods, a 2005 Des Moines North High School graduate, was a freshman facing a tangible opponent on the mat, and an abstract one in his head - the desire to prove that he belonged.
That anxiety has returned for Woods, but the stakes this time are much higher.
Woods is one of five North graduates - Marine reservists called to active duty Sept. 5 - leaving today for desert training in California.
The group that wrestled and played football together in high school will spend the next three months preparing for deployment to Iraq in January.
"The anticipation is killing me," Woods said. "I want to get over there and get it over with."
Woods and fellow reservists Keith Ulrich, Drew Sobeck, David Negrete and Truc Nguyen, plus active-duty Marine Justin Sand, helped the combined North-Hoover wrestling team win the CIML Metro Conference championship in 2005.
It was North's first wrestling conference championship and the only league title this decade for the Polar Bears.
"They represented our school well on a local level, and now they're going to be representing something bigger," North-Hoover wrestling coach Gene Hildreth said.
Woods and Sobeck reported to boot camp - a place where phone calls are a privilege to be earned - days after graduating from North.
"They'll make you work till you're exhausted and start yelling at you," Woods said. "They break you down and build you back up the way they want you."
Ulrich said boot camp was "definitely the toughest thing I've ever gone through." He said that the physical aspect was similar to wrestling, but that the mental training was far more difficult.
"They like to play games, get inside your head," Ulrich said.
The North grads are competitive, but they're sticking together. Woods and Sobeck have been a resource for Ulrich, Negrete and Nguyen.
"Sometimes guys will be too nervous to talk to their senior Marine. Some have only been in the unit for six months, and they'll call me or Drew and ask us questions," Woods said.
Sobeck, who graduated in 2005 with Ulrich, helped train Negrete last year.
"Whenever I needed something, I'd go to him," Negrete said. "But he still can't beat me in wrestling."
Being a Marine is something that Sobeck has dreamed of "ever since I was little," he said. His uncle, Paul Havran, served with the corps in the 1980s.
Sobeck and Woods spent last summer in Israel learning about counterterrorism, training that will be invaluable for their mission.
"(The Israelis) are a lot more aggressive than we are," Woods said. "We kind of wait back and see what happens. They're like, 'Someone's firing at me, I'm going to get them before they get me.' "
That training gave Woods knowledge, but he knows it is no substitute for experience.
"Some of these guys, this is their fourth combat deployment. I feel like I need to step up my game twice as much as they do," Woods said. "I've never been there, and I want to come back."
The unit's tour is expected to last seven or eight months.
"Hopefully not much longer than that," Woods said.
The reservists - members of Company E, Second Battalion, 24th Regiment, Fourth Division, Fleet Marine Force - spent last week at Camp Dodge in Johnston.
The mobilization process included medical and dental screening, photographs for news releases, updating equipment, and writing a will.
Preparing that document was likely not the first time they had confronted the undeniable hazards of their new occupation. The same day they reported to Camp Dodge, nine American soldiers were killed in Iraq. More than 3,700 Americans have died so far in the 4-year conflict.
"I definitely don't want to die, but I've made my peace," Ulrich said. "If I die, I die."
Finding such peace is something all troops do in their own way. The importance of doing it can be explained, but the method of doing it cannot be taught.
"Some people in this unit may not come back," Sobeck said. "Some may come back handicapped. If I die, I do it defending my country, and I do it with honor."
Talk of the war has been inescapable, with Gen. David Petraeus, the chief U.S. military commander in Iraq, reporting last week that progress is being made and detailing when some of the troops will come home.
A recent USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that 60 percent of Americans favor a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Such figures fuel visceral debates about whether the war should be continued.
The argument is moot to Woods.
"We ignore it and go about doing our jobs," he said.
A different war touched Nguyen's family 40 years ago. Nguyen, who graduated in 2006, moved to Des Moines from Vietnam at age 2. His father and grandfather fought in that country's civil war - in which several million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans were killed - but their experience wasn't the reason Nguyen joined the military.
"They don't like to talk about it," he said.
Nguyen became interested in the Marines as a student in North's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, and he decided he didn't want to go to college immediately after high school.
Though he wasn't born an American, Nguyen's loyalty is undeniable.
"I went to Vietnam in 2000," he said. "The country is very poor, and I feel lucky that my family got to come over here. I wanted to give something back."
A birth, a wedding and two graduations. It's been a whirlwind six months for Sand, who graduated from North this year.
He will spend the next few months at Camp Pendleton's School of Infantry in California and then await deployment.
If Sand goes to Iraq, he will not be shoulder-to-shoulder with his former teammates.
Sand initially wanted to join his buddies in the reserves, but he became an active-duty Marine earlier this year so he could better financially provide for his daughter, Kaylee, who was born in March.
"During wrestling, we were always a big family," he said. "I've known all these guys for a really long time. It was a tough choice, but I think I made the right one."
Nguyen has been close friends with Sand since fifth grade, and the two have promised to keep in touch.
"He told me he'd call me a lot," Nguyen said.
There will be other calls for Sand to make. He and his fiancee, Erica Lambertz, accelerated their wedding plans and married Sept. 8, two days before Sand left for California.
Lazy summer days became a foreign concept for Sand, who spent 13 weeks in boot camp.
The swelling of pride his mother, Sue, felt when he was presented with his eagle, globe and anchor medal - concluding the transition from recruit to Marine - was more than the family's camcorder could handle.
"The videotape is shaking all over," Sue Sand said. "I am very proud of what he's doing. He made these choices for the right reasons, but it scares me to death."
Sue Sand is trying her best to delay worrying about her son until he's in a combat zone.
"When he first enlisted, I had my nightmares where I sat straight up in bed," she said. "I'd go back to sleep and dream of the headline: North-Hoover wrestlers capture Osama bin Laden."
Reporter Mike Malloy can be reached at (515) 284-8158 or mmalloy@dmreg.com
Ellie