thedrifter
04-10-08, 07:21 AM
Hayden Marine looks forward to returning to Iraq
By SEAN GARMIRE
Staff writer
Patrick Mason says he has formed strong friendships with several Iraqi people
HAYDEN -- The Masons have been through this drill before. Their living room is a gallery of military portraits, and their home has been carefully prepared for their son's return from his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Marine Cpl. Patrick Mason, their youngest son, returned home this month, if only for a short time.
"It's been difficult," said his father, Kelly. "You grow some gray hair; man, you really do."
While Congress continues debates over troop withdrawal strategies, tens of thousands of military personnel quietly cycle between their homes and the battlefield.
Mason, who turned 21 during his last deployment to the small town of Dulab in the Al Anbar province, has two weeks in North Idaho before returning to training in California. He returned to the states in late March and arrived in Hayden on April 3. After the two weeks, Mason anticipates he'll go back to training. And after that, back to Iraq.
But Mason says he's looking forward to returning.
"I really like it there. I like the people a lot, especially now with them getting fed up with terrorism," he said.
Mason was about 14 when the U.S. invaded Iraq. By the time he was 17, during the summer before his senior year at North Idaho Christian School, he knew he wanted to be a Marine.
Growing up in their spacious home near the green of the Avondale golf course, Mason said he doesn't come from a military family.
But, he said he "always planned on being in the military."
So with help from his parents, he signed the papers.
"It was difficult," said his mother, Cindy. "But Patrick is a very strong person. As a mom, sending your child into anything dangerous, well, you don't want to sign a paper to do that."
Mason started training after graduating high school, and then left for his first deployment.
There have been significant changes in the war-torn country during his time there, he said. During his first deployment, Marines were responsible for protecting citizens within the city.
During his last deployment, he lived in a rented, plaster-walled home inside the city, and interacted daily with members of the community. He ate dinner and watched television with them.
His battalion of about 30 Marines worked with local police and military, training them and going on patrols.
He met with the town's sheikh -- who he described as "kind of like a grandpa of the town, and also the mayor," -- discussing plans for developing the town's infrastructure.
"This isn't what people think of as war, because this humanitarian stuff is the way we are fighting right now," although "that may not have been the case there four years ago."
He said he formed strong friendships with Iraqis there; one friend even called him "brother."
"I could imagine if I didn't get to know those people, I wouldn't want to go back," he said. "Once you accomplish something together, with someone else, that's a real relationship builder."
In two weeks their son will be absent again. The Masons will continue worrying and praying and waiting until 3 in the morning for satellite phone calls that may never come, but Kelly said his son's increasingly positive perception of the war gives them hope.
"When he's gone we glue ourselves to the news," Kelly said. "It's so nice to hear frontline stuff that's encouraging."
Ellie
By SEAN GARMIRE
Staff writer
Patrick Mason says he has formed strong friendships with several Iraqi people
HAYDEN -- The Masons have been through this drill before. Their living room is a gallery of military portraits, and their home has been carefully prepared for their son's return from his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Marine Cpl. Patrick Mason, their youngest son, returned home this month, if only for a short time.
"It's been difficult," said his father, Kelly. "You grow some gray hair; man, you really do."
While Congress continues debates over troop withdrawal strategies, tens of thousands of military personnel quietly cycle between their homes and the battlefield.
Mason, who turned 21 during his last deployment to the small town of Dulab in the Al Anbar province, has two weeks in North Idaho before returning to training in California. He returned to the states in late March and arrived in Hayden on April 3. After the two weeks, Mason anticipates he'll go back to training. And after that, back to Iraq.
But Mason says he's looking forward to returning.
"I really like it there. I like the people a lot, especially now with them getting fed up with terrorism," he said.
Mason was about 14 when the U.S. invaded Iraq. By the time he was 17, during the summer before his senior year at North Idaho Christian School, he knew he wanted to be a Marine.
Growing up in their spacious home near the green of the Avondale golf course, Mason said he doesn't come from a military family.
But, he said he "always planned on being in the military."
So with help from his parents, he signed the papers.
"It was difficult," said his mother, Cindy. "But Patrick is a very strong person. As a mom, sending your child into anything dangerous, well, you don't want to sign a paper to do that."
Mason started training after graduating high school, and then left for his first deployment.
There have been significant changes in the war-torn country during his time there, he said. During his first deployment, Marines were responsible for protecting citizens within the city.
During his last deployment, he lived in a rented, plaster-walled home inside the city, and interacted daily with members of the community. He ate dinner and watched television with them.
His battalion of about 30 Marines worked with local police and military, training them and going on patrols.
He met with the town's sheikh -- who he described as "kind of like a grandpa of the town, and also the mayor," -- discussing plans for developing the town's infrastructure.
"This isn't what people think of as war, because this humanitarian stuff is the way we are fighting right now," although "that may not have been the case there four years ago."
He said he formed strong friendships with Iraqis there; one friend even called him "brother."
"I could imagine if I didn't get to know those people, I wouldn't want to go back," he said. "Once you accomplish something together, with someone else, that's a real relationship builder."
In two weeks their son will be absent again. The Masons will continue worrying and praying and waiting until 3 in the morning for satellite phone calls that may never come, but Kelly said his son's increasingly positive perception of the war gives them hope.
"When he's gone we glue ourselves to the news," Kelly said. "It's so nice to hear frontline stuff that's encouraging."
Ellie