thedrifter
03-06-08, 09:02 AM
Wisconsin Marines in mourning over Favre
By Meg Jones
Wednesday, Mar 5 2008, 04:17 PM
Habbaniyah, Iraq - Yes, Iraq is 8,000-plus miles from Lambeau Field. Yes, Cheeseheads serving here know the tragic news. Brett Favre’s retirement announcement spread quickly through the ranks of Milwaukee-based Fox Company of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines.
Here’s some of the reaction from battle-hardened, tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners Marines/Packer fans who were blubbering like Vikings fans who just ran out of chardonnay at their tailgate party.
OK, maybe that’s a bit harsh. But there were quite a few stunned people here in Anbar Province once the news began filtering in at roughly 7:15 p.m. Iraq time Tuesday.
Maj. Jeff Strey, a 1982 Green Bay Southwest High School grad: "I’m in mourning right now. I was surprised because someone told me they thought he was coming back, and I was looking forward to seeing him play this year. I said, ‘We should be flying the flags at half-mast right now.’ "
Strey, who lives in Madison, got his first e-mail from his best friend back home around 7:15 p.m. just as he was returning from dinner and then got a flood of more e-mails, including one from his wife, who said he was the first she thought about when the news broke.
Strey managed to go to Lambeau for the last regular-season game, against the Lions, while home on leave before shipping out to Iraq.
"Favre has been playing for 17 years, and I’ve been in the Marines for 18," Strey said. "If he’s hanging it up, I probably should, too."
Lance Cpl. Jeff Ahlborn, 23, is from Chicago but has been a Packers fan all of his life because his dad is one, too. His dad has season tickets and Ahlborn remembers watching the Packers play at County Stadium as well as on the Frozen Tundra.
"Somebody in my platoon just told me," Ahlborn said. "I’m a season ticket holder, so I’m pretty angry right now. It’s still a while before the preseason, so he can change his mind." He watched the NFC championship game on TV in Twentynine Palms, Calif., where his unit was finishing training.
Ahlborn, who was waiting to go out on a foot patrol, said that if the Packers had gone to the Super Bowl and won this year, he planned to get a tattoo on his rib cage of Favre throwing a grenade. Ahlborn was thinking along the lines of a skeleton wearing a No. 4 jersey with a death mask hurling a grenade. His rib cage is still unblemished.
"I was planning on going to every home game next season." When told he’ll have to watch Aaron Rogers taking snaps, Ahlborn said "Oh, geez."
Sgt. Dave Neukirchen, 30, of Wisconsin Rapids, and Lance Cpl. Jason Altmann, 20, of Milladore, were still in denial. Sitting next to each other on a cot in a room where Headquarters Platoon bunks this afternoon they were having none of it.
Neukirchen: "It’s all lies. It’s a myth."
Altmann: "He pulled the same thing last year. He’ll be back for another Super Bowl ring."
Neukirchen: "There’s no one to replace him. He’s not going to retire. We didn’t get to see his last season (because the Marines were training for Iraq), so he’s got to come back. I hope he reads this and I hope he feels punked by a bunch of Marines."
Altmann was a toddler when Favre pulled on a green-and-gold jersey for the first time.
Sgt. Ryan Zenoni walks in. When told that Favre is retiring Zenoni looks crestfallen: "What? Oh, I can’t talk."
Ellie
By Meg Jones
Wednesday, Mar 5 2008, 04:17 PM
Habbaniyah, Iraq - Yes, Iraq is 8,000-plus miles from Lambeau Field. Yes, Cheeseheads serving here know the tragic news. Brett Favre’s retirement announcement spread quickly through the ranks of Milwaukee-based Fox Company of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines.
Here’s some of the reaction from battle-hardened, tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners Marines/Packer fans who were blubbering like Vikings fans who just ran out of chardonnay at their tailgate party.
OK, maybe that’s a bit harsh. But there were quite a few stunned people here in Anbar Province once the news began filtering in at roughly 7:15 p.m. Iraq time Tuesday.
Maj. Jeff Strey, a 1982 Green Bay Southwest High School grad: "I’m in mourning right now. I was surprised because someone told me they thought he was coming back, and I was looking forward to seeing him play this year. I said, ‘We should be flying the flags at half-mast right now.’ "
Strey, who lives in Madison, got his first e-mail from his best friend back home around 7:15 p.m. just as he was returning from dinner and then got a flood of more e-mails, including one from his wife, who said he was the first she thought about when the news broke.
Strey managed to go to Lambeau for the last regular-season game, against the Lions, while home on leave before shipping out to Iraq.
"Favre has been playing for 17 years, and I’ve been in the Marines for 18," Strey said. "If he’s hanging it up, I probably should, too."
Lance Cpl. Jeff Ahlborn, 23, is from Chicago but has been a Packers fan all of his life because his dad is one, too. His dad has season tickets and Ahlborn remembers watching the Packers play at County Stadium as well as on the Frozen Tundra.
"Somebody in my platoon just told me," Ahlborn said. "I’m a season ticket holder, so I’m pretty angry right now. It’s still a while before the preseason, so he can change his mind." He watched the NFC championship game on TV in Twentynine Palms, Calif., where his unit was finishing training.
Ahlborn, who was waiting to go out on a foot patrol, said that if the Packers had gone to the Super Bowl and won this year, he planned to get a tattoo on his rib cage of Favre throwing a grenade. Ahlborn was thinking along the lines of a skeleton wearing a No. 4 jersey with a death mask hurling a grenade. His rib cage is still unblemished.
"I was planning on going to every home game next season." When told he’ll have to watch Aaron Rogers taking snaps, Ahlborn said "Oh, geez."
Sgt. Dave Neukirchen, 30, of Wisconsin Rapids, and Lance Cpl. Jason Altmann, 20, of Milladore, were still in denial. Sitting next to each other on a cot in a room where Headquarters Platoon bunks this afternoon they were having none of it.
Neukirchen: "It’s all lies. It’s a myth."
Altmann: "He pulled the same thing last year. He’ll be back for another Super Bowl ring."
Neukirchen: "There’s no one to replace him. He’s not going to retire. We didn’t get to see his last season (because the Marines were training for Iraq), so he’s got to come back. I hope he reads this and I hope he feels punked by a bunch of Marines."
Altmann was a toddler when Favre pulled on a green-and-gold jersey for the first time.
Sgt. Ryan Zenoni walks in. When told that Favre is retiring Zenoni looks crestfallen: "What? Oh, I can’t talk."
Ellie