thedrifter
10-23-07, 08:04 AM
Pekin brothers tend to their jobs in Iraq
By Art Drake
Times correspondent
AL TAQADDUM, Iraq - When Nic and T.J. Myers went looking for “an extreme job,” they found the U.S. Marines.
Now the Pekin natives - sons of Renee Happach and Bill Myers, both of Pekin - are contending with the hazards of war and heat at Al Taqaddum Airbase in Iraq.
But they have two bits of good news: They're well, and for them Iraq is not as bad as they expected.
Lance Corporal Nicholas Myers, 22, and Lance Corporal Timothy Myers, 25, entered the Marine Reserves about a year and a half ago.
“It was my brother's idea,” Nic recalled in a telephone interview from Iraq Wednesday. “He wanted to be in the military, and I wanted to have an extreme job.”
After graduating from Pekin Community High School, T.J. attended Illinois Central College for a time but found himself bored and short of money. With no interesting job prospects in sight, he turned to the military, the U.S. Marines in particular.
“The Marines are the best of the branches,” he explained.
Nic and T.J. had been typical teens, enjoying soccer, basketball and street hockey, Renee Happach said. They spent time helping at the roofing business run by their older brother, Chad. At one time, each had set his sights on law enforcement careers.
The brothers had talked about enlisting in the military for some time, but the decision to sign up together took their mother by surprise.
“They did their homework,” Happach remembered. “They spoke with the Army and the Navy - all of them. Maybe I was just trying to bury my head in the sand and not think about it.”
After boot camp, the Myers brothers were at home when they received word of their impending duty in Iraq in separate telephone calls on the same day, Happach said.
“One of them got a call, and half an hour later, the other got a call,” Happach recalled. “They got pretty quiet after that.
“That hit me pretty hard, especially with them going together,” the two Marines' mother continued.
“It's hard having both of them there, but at least they can kind of keep an eye on each other.”
When they enlisted, Nic and T.J. said, they expected to put in some time in Iraq, the source of scary headlines detailing violence and casualties. And they expected to deal with a climate where Marines drink water throughout the day to deal with temperatures that can top 120 degrees. They arrived at Al Taqaddum a month and a half ago.
“I wasn't looking forward to Iraq,” T.J. said. “I figured it would be pretty dangerous. But they've got good food here and a nice gym, the Internet and air conditioning.”
Although Nic, too, expected the worst, he said his spirits also are high, and he works to help keep his comrades upbeat as well.
“I don't mind it here at all,” Nic said. “In training, they prepare you for the worst. But it wasn't all that bad once we got here.”
At Al Taqaddum - about 46 miles west of Baghdad - T.J. operates heavy equipment, such as bulldozers, forklifts and backhoes. Nic drives trucks and Humvees.
The brothers say they are as safe as they can be in war-torn Iraq.
“Any time you go outside the wire, I think it's dangerous,” T.J. said. “But I think it's pretty calm here - more than it has been in the past. Inside the base, it's pretty safe.
“On the missions I've been on so far, luckily we haven't encountered any dangers. Some guys in my platoon have seen a couple of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and some small-arms fire from a distance. Nobody got hurt.”
Some Iraqis have jobs on the airbase, such as working in the barber shop, and the brothers said they seem to be “really good people.”
The brothers put in long days at their jobs, but when they get spare time, they enjoy sending and reading e-mails and working out in the airbase gym. Nic added that he likes to pass time by sleeping. They enjoy the occasional care package from home, including hygiene items, DVDs, beef jerky, candy and granola bars.
The brothers say their morale is good. They are aware of the controversy surrounding the Iraq war. That debate is not their problem, they say.
“I'm pretty much here to get my job done and help out with the war,” Nic said.
T.J. agreed.
“I'm just here to do what I've got to do here,” he said. “The only people whose opinion matters to me is the rest of the guys around me.”
Back in Pekin, their mother thrives on the e-mail contacts with her sons in Iraq.
“Thank God for e-mail and the Internet,” Happach said.
In their correspondence, the Myers boys always ask how things are at home, she said.
“They're worried about what's going on here and that we're OK,” she said. “We're worried about them. It's a two-way street.
“They always make the best out of any situation. I'm sure that's what they're doing now.”
T.J. and Nic expect to rotate out of Iraq and visit Illinois in February or March, although that could change. They look forward to visiting friends and family and maybe taking time out for a Caribbean cruise.
They also have looked farther down the road at the future beyond the Marines. Their service with the Marines will be complete in four more years, and T.J. is thinking about getting work running heavy equipment, similar to his job at Al Taqaddum.
Nic said he doesn't expect to convert his Marine truck-driving skills to a civilian job. He'd rather join a law enforcement SWAT team.
As far as T.J. and Nic Myers are concerned, the search for the “extreme job” paid off.
“I enjoy what I do,” T.J. said. “I can't think of anything I could do at home that would be more of an experience than what we are doing out here.”
“There are a lot of things I've done that I wouldn't have done at any other job,” Nic said.
Ellie
By Art Drake
Times correspondent
AL TAQADDUM, Iraq - When Nic and T.J. Myers went looking for “an extreme job,” they found the U.S. Marines.
Now the Pekin natives - sons of Renee Happach and Bill Myers, both of Pekin - are contending with the hazards of war and heat at Al Taqaddum Airbase in Iraq.
But they have two bits of good news: They're well, and for them Iraq is not as bad as they expected.
Lance Corporal Nicholas Myers, 22, and Lance Corporal Timothy Myers, 25, entered the Marine Reserves about a year and a half ago.
“It was my brother's idea,” Nic recalled in a telephone interview from Iraq Wednesday. “He wanted to be in the military, and I wanted to have an extreme job.”
After graduating from Pekin Community High School, T.J. attended Illinois Central College for a time but found himself bored and short of money. With no interesting job prospects in sight, he turned to the military, the U.S. Marines in particular.
“The Marines are the best of the branches,” he explained.
Nic and T.J. had been typical teens, enjoying soccer, basketball and street hockey, Renee Happach said. They spent time helping at the roofing business run by their older brother, Chad. At one time, each had set his sights on law enforcement careers.
The brothers had talked about enlisting in the military for some time, but the decision to sign up together took their mother by surprise.
“They did their homework,” Happach remembered. “They spoke with the Army and the Navy - all of them. Maybe I was just trying to bury my head in the sand and not think about it.”
After boot camp, the Myers brothers were at home when they received word of their impending duty in Iraq in separate telephone calls on the same day, Happach said.
“One of them got a call, and half an hour later, the other got a call,” Happach recalled. “They got pretty quiet after that.
“That hit me pretty hard, especially with them going together,” the two Marines' mother continued.
“It's hard having both of them there, but at least they can kind of keep an eye on each other.”
When they enlisted, Nic and T.J. said, they expected to put in some time in Iraq, the source of scary headlines detailing violence and casualties. And they expected to deal with a climate where Marines drink water throughout the day to deal with temperatures that can top 120 degrees. They arrived at Al Taqaddum a month and a half ago.
“I wasn't looking forward to Iraq,” T.J. said. “I figured it would be pretty dangerous. But they've got good food here and a nice gym, the Internet and air conditioning.”
Although Nic, too, expected the worst, he said his spirits also are high, and he works to help keep his comrades upbeat as well.
“I don't mind it here at all,” Nic said. “In training, they prepare you for the worst. But it wasn't all that bad once we got here.”
At Al Taqaddum - about 46 miles west of Baghdad - T.J. operates heavy equipment, such as bulldozers, forklifts and backhoes. Nic drives trucks and Humvees.
The brothers say they are as safe as they can be in war-torn Iraq.
“Any time you go outside the wire, I think it's dangerous,” T.J. said. “But I think it's pretty calm here - more than it has been in the past. Inside the base, it's pretty safe.
“On the missions I've been on so far, luckily we haven't encountered any dangers. Some guys in my platoon have seen a couple of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and some small-arms fire from a distance. Nobody got hurt.”
Some Iraqis have jobs on the airbase, such as working in the barber shop, and the brothers said they seem to be “really good people.”
The brothers put in long days at their jobs, but when they get spare time, they enjoy sending and reading e-mails and working out in the airbase gym. Nic added that he likes to pass time by sleeping. They enjoy the occasional care package from home, including hygiene items, DVDs, beef jerky, candy and granola bars.
The brothers say their morale is good. They are aware of the controversy surrounding the Iraq war. That debate is not their problem, they say.
“I'm pretty much here to get my job done and help out with the war,” Nic said.
T.J. agreed.
“I'm just here to do what I've got to do here,” he said. “The only people whose opinion matters to me is the rest of the guys around me.”
Back in Pekin, their mother thrives on the e-mail contacts with her sons in Iraq.
“Thank God for e-mail and the Internet,” Happach said.
In their correspondence, the Myers boys always ask how things are at home, she said.
“They're worried about what's going on here and that we're OK,” she said. “We're worried about them. It's a two-way street.
“They always make the best out of any situation. I'm sure that's what they're doing now.”
T.J. and Nic expect to rotate out of Iraq and visit Illinois in February or March, although that could change. They look forward to visiting friends and family and maybe taking time out for a Caribbean cruise.
They also have looked farther down the road at the future beyond the Marines. Their service with the Marines will be complete in four more years, and T.J. is thinking about getting work running heavy equipment, similar to his job at Al Taqaddum.
Nic said he doesn't expect to convert his Marine truck-driving skills to a civilian job. He'd rather join a law enforcement SWAT team.
As far as T.J. and Nic Myers are concerned, the search for the “extreme job” paid off.
“I enjoy what I do,” T.J. said. “I can't think of anything I could do at home that would be more of an experience than what we are doing out here.”
“There are a lot of things I've done that I wouldn't have done at any other job,” Nic said.
Ellie