thedrifter
09-25-07, 05:43 AM
Published: September 24, 2007 08:49 pm
Five southern West Virginians serving in Iraq
Marine unit deployed since early 2007
By Bill Billeter
Register-Herald reporter
Five Marines from southern West Virginia are currently deployed to Iraq as members of Marine Air Control Squadron Two.
The unit is responsible for the tactical control and safety of all Marine Corps fixed wing aircraft in Iraq.
The five have been in Iraq since early 2007 — enduring long months in a combat zone thousands of miles from home.
Some have wives and children waiting here for them to return. All have family and friends in West Virginia whom they correspond with via mail, e-mail and occasional phone calls.
All of the five Marines are intelligent, completing highly technical and specialized training in preparation for their duties.
“And all of these men share the pride of being West Virginians and United States Marines,” said 1st Lt. Jason Lambert of Matheny, one of the five.
Cpl. Travis Legg was born in Charleston and graduated from Clay County High School in 1998. He studied at Fairmont State University and West Virginia State University before enlisting in the Marines in 2003.
Like the other four West Virginians in his unit, Legg mentioned his family as one of his primary motivations for joining the Marine Corps.
“I joined for my family,” Legg said. “I would like my son to go to bed at night and have no worries growing up.”
Sgt. Seth Fortner was born in Princeton and grew up on his family’s small farm in Lashmeet. Fortner graduated from PikeView High School in 2002 and enlisted in the Marine Corps the following year.
He became a tactical data systems repair technician and traveled to Japan, Korea, Arizona and eventually Iraq.
“I joined the Marine Corps to prove to myself that I could be challenged and rise to the occasion both physically and mentally,” Fortner said.
Staff Sgt. Robert Zimmerman was born in Summersville and grew up in Hico, graduating in 1997 from Midland Trail High School.
His wife is the former Andrea Sweet of Ansted, and the couple has two daughters, Juliet and Mackenzi.
Zimmerman said that he is proud to be the first Marine in his family — and to carry on the tradition of his father who was a U.S. Army veteran.
Staff Sgt. Timothy Marsingill spent much of his youth in Mingo County.
He struggled for a few years to find a job and start a career, eventually working as a coal miner. But Marsingill wanted to do more with his life.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2001 and became a tactical air controller. He moved with his wife Vickie to Cherry Point, N.C.
“This is where my life took off,” he said.
Six months later in early 2003, he deployed to Iraq, getting to within 20 miles of Baghdad.
“That is something I will never forget,” he said.
Now on his second tour in the troubled country, Marsingill said, “Every time I come over here, it just reminds me of how much I take freedom for granted. Since I have been here, it has showed me how much freedom is worth.”
Lambert grew up in Matheny and graduated in 1998 from Oceana High School. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 2003.
While assigned to Okinawa, Japan, Lambert was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Bahrain, Thailand, Korea and mainland Japan.
Now on his second tour in Iraq, Lambert said, “I know that our work has lasting effects nationally and globally that will provide a means for freedom to flourish.”
Lambert’s father served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, and both of his grandfathers served with the Army in World War II.
The five men cover three separate shifts in the 24-hour operations center, but they still get to interact with one another.
“Some days we get to spend an hour or two shooting the breeze about things back home, and other days it’s just a high-five during a shift changeover,” said Lambert.
But the men joke around and poke fun at one another about where each is from in West Virginia.
“It is understood by the other Marines (from those other 49 states) that we are the West Virginia crew,” said Lambert.
— E-mail: bbilleter@register-herald.com
Ellie
Five southern West Virginians serving in Iraq
Marine unit deployed since early 2007
By Bill Billeter
Register-Herald reporter
Five Marines from southern West Virginia are currently deployed to Iraq as members of Marine Air Control Squadron Two.
The unit is responsible for the tactical control and safety of all Marine Corps fixed wing aircraft in Iraq.
The five have been in Iraq since early 2007 — enduring long months in a combat zone thousands of miles from home.
Some have wives and children waiting here for them to return. All have family and friends in West Virginia whom they correspond with via mail, e-mail and occasional phone calls.
All of the five Marines are intelligent, completing highly technical and specialized training in preparation for their duties.
“And all of these men share the pride of being West Virginians and United States Marines,” said 1st Lt. Jason Lambert of Matheny, one of the five.
Cpl. Travis Legg was born in Charleston and graduated from Clay County High School in 1998. He studied at Fairmont State University and West Virginia State University before enlisting in the Marines in 2003.
Like the other four West Virginians in his unit, Legg mentioned his family as one of his primary motivations for joining the Marine Corps.
“I joined for my family,” Legg said. “I would like my son to go to bed at night and have no worries growing up.”
Sgt. Seth Fortner was born in Princeton and grew up on his family’s small farm in Lashmeet. Fortner graduated from PikeView High School in 2002 and enlisted in the Marine Corps the following year.
He became a tactical data systems repair technician and traveled to Japan, Korea, Arizona and eventually Iraq.
“I joined the Marine Corps to prove to myself that I could be challenged and rise to the occasion both physically and mentally,” Fortner said.
Staff Sgt. Robert Zimmerman was born in Summersville and grew up in Hico, graduating in 1997 from Midland Trail High School.
His wife is the former Andrea Sweet of Ansted, and the couple has two daughters, Juliet and Mackenzi.
Zimmerman said that he is proud to be the first Marine in his family — and to carry on the tradition of his father who was a U.S. Army veteran.
Staff Sgt. Timothy Marsingill spent much of his youth in Mingo County.
He struggled for a few years to find a job and start a career, eventually working as a coal miner. But Marsingill wanted to do more with his life.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2001 and became a tactical air controller. He moved with his wife Vickie to Cherry Point, N.C.
“This is where my life took off,” he said.
Six months later in early 2003, he deployed to Iraq, getting to within 20 miles of Baghdad.
“That is something I will never forget,” he said.
Now on his second tour in the troubled country, Marsingill said, “Every time I come over here, it just reminds me of how much I take freedom for granted. Since I have been here, it has showed me how much freedom is worth.”
Lambert grew up in Matheny and graduated in 1998 from Oceana High School. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 2003.
While assigned to Okinawa, Japan, Lambert was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Bahrain, Thailand, Korea and mainland Japan.
Now on his second tour in Iraq, Lambert said, “I know that our work has lasting effects nationally and globally that will provide a means for freedom to flourish.”
Lambert’s father served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, and both of his grandfathers served with the Army in World War II.
The five men cover three separate shifts in the 24-hour operations center, but they still get to interact with one another.
“Some days we get to spend an hour or two shooting the breeze about things back home, and other days it’s just a high-five during a shift changeover,” said Lambert.
But the men joke around and poke fun at one another about where each is from in West Virginia.
“It is understood by the other Marines (from those other 49 states) that we are the West Virginia crew,” said Lambert.
— E-mail: bbilleter@register-herald.com
Ellie