thedrifter
12-30-07, 09:18 AM
Best present of all: Her son is home safe from Iraq
Sunday, December 30, 2007
By BARBARA S. ROTHSCHILD
Courier-Post Staff
EVESHAM
April Coker's Christmas presented arrived two months early this year, when her son, Marine Sgt. Jeffrey Jayne, came home on Oct. 28 after his third seven-month tour of Iraq -- most likely, this time,for good.
Jayne, 23, spent four years on active duty as a truck operator. He was home last year for Christmas, but had to leave for Iraq the next day. Before that, he'd spent one Yuletide in boot camp and the next two in Iraq.
For the next four years, he'll remain in the Individual Ready Reserve -- with a chance he'd be called up should the war escalate.
"Normally after you've been on active duty, there's a grace period of a year. I don't think I'll be called up after three times in Iraq . . . but I'd do what I have to do," Jayne said during a visit with his mom, April Coker, who still lives Marlton.
Although Jayne enjoyed the camaraderie and the good, plentiful meals that the military supplied during Christmases in Fallujah and on his base, he was happy to spend Christmas this year with his mom and her husband, Jamie, and other family members.
But he has no regrets about enlisting soon after he graduated from Cherokee High School in 2003.
"I saw it as a good opportunity. Being patriotic, I wanted to do something for the country," Jayne said. He attended boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., from October 2003 until January 2004, then spent several months training in his specialty before arriving in Iraq for the first time in August 2004.
Despite some close calls, Jayne was never injured in Iraq.
He emerged unscathed despite the dangers of transporting troops and supplies throughout the region. His closest brush with fate came while he was on base.
"There was indirect fire and mortars coming in, and one landed 100 feet from my tent. We found a daisy chain IED (an improvised explosive devices often left on a curb as a roadside bomb) ," Jayne said.
During his first deployment, Jayne drove in convoys out of Al Taqaddum in central Iraq for two months, then moved on to an operation in Fallujah, and also reported to Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq.
His second deployment, from August 2005 to February 2006, was concentrated at Al Asad. It was during this stint that Jayne lost several members of his battalion -- one in a sniper attack, another in a bombing, and the third in a noncombat incident.
"You can't dwell on it. You go to the memorial at the chapel on the base, and just leave it from there," he said.
After a year at Camp Lejeune, N.C., he was deployed for his third time in February, spending his time in Fallujah. He returned to the States in September.
"I felt strongly that he needed to make the decision (to enlist) for himself. Jeffrey is a very caring person who wants to help other people, so I knew he'd do well in the Marines. But I was hoping he wouldn't have to go to Iraq," said Coker, 48, a hospital emergency room.
Coker got through the Christmases when her son was overseas with the support of friends and co-workers -- and by praying.
"I'm a spiritual person, and mostly all I could do was pray," Coker said. It also helped to talk about her son, Coker said.
"I continuously talked about him. That's how I kept him near me all the time," she said.
Coker wore two watches, one set to Iraqi time, as another way of feeling closer to her son and thinking about what he was doing.
Although Jayne tried to call home once a week. The longest stretch without communication lasted about a month during his second deployment.
"I would find myself getting very sad inside when I hadn't talked to him. Problems don't seem so big anymore, compared to worrying and just wondering where Jeffrey was. I'm much more content than I was before he went into the Marines, and I see things a little differently," she said.
She plans to become more active in groups such as the local Yellow Ribbon Club of parents whose children have served or are serving in the war..
Coker said she thinks about those who have lost loved ones in the war and hopes to help other families deal with their feelings.
"I want whatever I do to be in honor of our military," she said.
Jayne, too, said his life is forever changed by his time in Iraq.
"All the experiences I've had have changed the way I look at life. I've seen certain things you don't think about, like poverty on the streets," he said.
During his last two months in Iraq, Jayne was placed on a military transition team, and said it had a profound effect on him.
"We were working hand in hand with the Iraqis, teaching them what we know to get them up to par. I worked with Iraqi troops on my travels, and got to interact a little bit with the Iraqi people. They said, "We're happy you're here.' They were excited to be able to run their own country soon," he said.
Jayne stays in touch with his Marine buddies. Some who were with him on all three tours are now home and scattered around the country, while others plan to make the Marines a career.
Jayne is attending truck-driving school. He soon hopes to fulfill a longtime goal to drive a big rig and see some of the country before getting a degree in business or logistics management.
But while his life is on track, Jayne said he often thinks about the men and women he left behind in Iraq, as well as those yet to serve there.
"I think about all the troops. I know that when someone is killed, there's going to be a chaplain going to their family's door in less than four hours. I'd tell those parents and spouses that their loved ones didn't die in vain. They're making a difference over there," he said.
Reach Barbara S. Rothschild at (856) 486-2416 or brothschild@courierpostonline.com
Ellie
Sunday, December 30, 2007
By BARBARA S. ROTHSCHILD
Courier-Post Staff
EVESHAM
April Coker's Christmas presented arrived two months early this year, when her son, Marine Sgt. Jeffrey Jayne, came home on Oct. 28 after his third seven-month tour of Iraq -- most likely, this time,for good.
Jayne, 23, spent four years on active duty as a truck operator. He was home last year for Christmas, but had to leave for Iraq the next day. Before that, he'd spent one Yuletide in boot camp and the next two in Iraq.
For the next four years, he'll remain in the Individual Ready Reserve -- with a chance he'd be called up should the war escalate.
"Normally after you've been on active duty, there's a grace period of a year. I don't think I'll be called up after three times in Iraq . . . but I'd do what I have to do," Jayne said during a visit with his mom, April Coker, who still lives Marlton.
Although Jayne enjoyed the camaraderie and the good, plentiful meals that the military supplied during Christmases in Fallujah and on his base, he was happy to spend Christmas this year with his mom and her husband, Jamie, and other family members.
But he has no regrets about enlisting soon after he graduated from Cherokee High School in 2003.
"I saw it as a good opportunity. Being patriotic, I wanted to do something for the country," Jayne said. He attended boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., from October 2003 until January 2004, then spent several months training in his specialty before arriving in Iraq for the first time in August 2004.
Despite some close calls, Jayne was never injured in Iraq.
He emerged unscathed despite the dangers of transporting troops and supplies throughout the region. His closest brush with fate came while he was on base.
"There was indirect fire and mortars coming in, and one landed 100 feet from my tent. We found a daisy chain IED (an improvised explosive devices often left on a curb as a roadside bomb) ," Jayne said.
During his first deployment, Jayne drove in convoys out of Al Taqaddum in central Iraq for two months, then moved on to an operation in Fallujah, and also reported to Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq.
His second deployment, from August 2005 to February 2006, was concentrated at Al Asad. It was during this stint that Jayne lost several members of his battalion -- one in a sniper attack, another in a bombing, and the third in a noncombat incident.
"You can't dwell on it. You go to the memorial at the chapel on the base, and just leave it from there," he said.
After a year at Camp Lejeune, N.C., he was deployed for his third time in February, spending his time in Fallujah. He returned to the States in September.
"I felt strongly that he needed to make the decision (to enlist) for himself. Jeffrey is a very caring person who wants to help other people, so I knew he'd do well in the Marines. But I was hoping he wouldn't have to go to Iraq," said Coker, 48, a hospital emergency room.
Coker got through the Christmases when her son was overseas with the support of friends and co-workers -- and by praying.
"I'm a spiritual person, and mostly all I could do was pray," Coker said. It also helped to talk about her son, Coker said.
"I continuously talked about him. That's how I kept him near me all the time," she said.
Coker wore two watches, one set to Iraqi time, as another way of feeling closer to her son and thinking about what he was doing.
Although Jayne tried to call home once a week. The longest stretch without communication lasted about a month during his second deployment.
"I would find myself getting very sad inside when I hadn't talked to him. Problems don't seem so big anymore, compared to worrying and just wondering where Jeffrey was. I'm much more content than I was before he went into the Marines, and I see things a little differently," she said.
She plans to become more active in groups such as the local Yellow Ribbon Club of parents whose children have served or are serving in the war..
Coker said she thinks about those who have lost loved ones in the war and hopes to help other families deal with their feelings.
"I want whatever I do to be in honor of our military," she said.
Jayne, too, said his life is forever changed by his time in Iraq.
"All the experiences I've had have changed the way I look at life. I've seen certain things you don't think about, like poverty on the streets," he said.
During his last two months in Iraq, Jayne was placed on a military transition team, and said it had a profound effect on him.
"We were working hand in hand with the Iraqis, teaching them what we know to get them up to par. I worked with Iraqi troops on my travels, and got to interact a little bit with the Iraqi people. They said, "We're happy you're here.' They were excited to be able to run their own country soon," he said.
Jayne stays in touch with his Marine buddies. Some who were with him on all three tours are now home and scattered around the country, while others plan to make the Marines a career.
Jayne is attending truck-driving school. He soon hopes to fulfill a longtime goal to drive a big rig and see some of the country before getting a degree in business or logistics management.
But while his life is on track, Jayne said he often thinks about the men and women he left behind in Iraq, as well as those yet to serve there.
"I think about all the troops. I know that when someone is killed, there's going to be a chaplain going to their family's door in less than four hours. I'd tell those parents and spouses that their loved ones didn't die in vain. They're making a difference over there," he said.
Reach Barbara S. Rothschild at (856) 486-2416 or brothschild@courierpostonline.com
Ellie