thedrifter
06-22-08, 09:54 AM
June 22, 2008
Fallen Marines honored
By TIM DOHERTY
Bittersweet.
A day of fellowship, underscored for some, by the memories of those not there.
The hair-raising precision of dress blues in lockstep after the call to present arms, followed by a moment of silence and the muffled mourning of a single bugler sounding taps.
Such was Saturday at the Bogue Chitto Water Park, where about 150 Marines and families gathered for the Second Annual Deep South BBQ and to honor three of their departed comrades-in-arms: Lance Cpl. Casey Casanova of McComb, who died in Iraq last month; Cpl. Dustin Lee of Quitman, who died in Iraq in March 2007; and Pvt. Jack Lucas, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, who died in Hattiesburg earlier this month at 80.
"What I can say to you is make the best choices that you make in your life," said Paula Carruth, the mother of Casanova, who was her only child. "That's what my Casey did, make the best of her choices."
For Carruth and her mother, Kitty, it was a day of tears and comfort, as the veterans offered words of encouragement, condolence and praise regarding her daughter.
"I hugged her neck and told her how sorry I was her (child) had to die to protect our freedom," said George Fleming of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who presented Carruth and Lee's mother, Rachel, with "memorial coins," featuring a folded flag and the words "I Will Not Forget" on one side and the United States Marine Corps emblem on the other.
Fleming said he has given out seven of the coins as a personal gesture so far, "and it's hard. It doesn't get any easier."
For some, time has helped. Some.
Take the Lee family, who after nine months of snipping away at governmental red tape, was able to adopt Lex, the German shepherd that was Dustin Lee's partner in Iraq. Lee was a K-9 handler, and Lex had been trained to sniff out explosives.
"He served proudly, and was doing his job," said Lee's father, Jerome, who spent 25 years as a Mississippi Highway Patrolman and 30 years in the National Guard. "He was proud of our country and was proud to serve."
As were the members of the Marines-Together We Stand, who sponsored Saturday's gathering.
"Two years ago, this was four Marines in my back yard," said William "Hippie" David of McComb, who got the ball rolling for the Deep South event. "Now, we've got the Mississippi Marine Corps League involved and are trying to get as much publicity as we can.
"But we've basically doubled in size. Last year, we had 75 people."
Marines - "Because there's no such thing as a former Marine," said Clifton Addison of Purvis. "Once a Marine, always a Marine." - came from 20 different states to attend, including Minnesota, Montana, Maryland, Wisconsin and Ohio. One couple even came in from Hawaii.
Four Marine veterans of World War II were on hand, including John Reeves of McComb, who like Lucas, fought in the Fifth Marine Division that stormed Iwo Jima in 1945.
"I was with the occupational force in Japan, and me and a lieutenant from New York, we went into Nagasaki," Reeves said of the second and last city ever attacked with a nuclear bomb. "It was devastated."
Two other World War II vets, Bud Flowers of Magnolia and Red Womack of McComb, spent about a half hour talking with about a dozen "poolies," Marine recruits who were at the event, with some sporting T-shirts that read, "Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body."
"It's a Marine thing," said Womack, who went from a machine gunner to handling a flame-thrower during the island-jumping battles in the Pacific. "Marines enjoy getting together."
Flowers made four landings with the Second Marine Division, including early battles at Guadalcanal and Tarawa. He said he and Womack just told the newcomers to be prepared as best they could for what might lie ahead.
"It wasn't so much about our experiences, but just warned them to follow the rules and do what they were taught was right," Flowers said. "We could tell them some stories, but they probably wouldn't believe them. They have to see for themselves."
There was a Korean War veteran attending as well, but like David, many of the veterans on hand were from Vietnam, a group that never got its due, Carruth said.
"It's interesting that I sit here with them today, because all of my life, I've thought they'd been done so horribly," Carruth said. "And here they are, honoring my daughter, when they should be the ones being honored. Those people, who went there under horrible conditions - emotionally, physically, mentally - are really some of the best of the best."
Mary Draughn, Louisiana commander of the Marine Corps League, represented the Lucas family Saturday. Ruby Lucas, Jack's widow, had been hospitalized for exhaustion, but was doing fine, Draughn said.
"The last few weeks have been trying, to say the least," Draughn said. "But she wanted you to know that she and Jack were here in spirit."
The Carruth and Lee families were presented with Calla lilies, as well as plaques, in remembrance of their children's sacrifice.
Tears flowed, followed by heartfelt ooooo-hahs.
"To have Marines here from World War II to the present to the poolies, and from all over the country, it's really been something," Addison said.
Ellie
Fallen Marines honored
By TIM DOHERTY
Bittersweet.
A day of fellowship, underscored for some, by the memories of those not there.
The hair-raising precision of dress blues in lockstep after the call to present arms, followed by a moment of silence and the muffled mourning of a single bugler sounding taps.
Such was Saturday at the Bogue Chitto Water Park, where about 150 Marines and families gathered for the Second Annual Deep South BBQ and to honor three of their departed comrades-in-arms: Lance Cpl. Casey Casanova of McComb, who died in Iraq last month; Cpl. Dustin Lee of Quitman, who died in Iraq in March 2007; and Pvt. Jack Lucas, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, who died in Hattiesburg earlier this month at 80.
"What I can say to you is make the best choices that you make in your life," said Paula Carruth, the mother of Casanova, who was her only child. "That's what my Casey did, make the best of her choices."
For Carruth and her mother, Kitty, it was a day of tears and comfort, as the veterans offered words of encouragement, condolence and praise regarding her daughter.
"I hugged her neck and told her how sorry I was her (child) had to die to protect our freedom," said George Fleming of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who presented Carruth and Lee's mother, Rachel, with "memorial coins," featuring a folded flag and the words "I Will Not Forget" on one side and the United States Marine Corps emblem on the other.
Fleming said he has given out seven of the coins as a personal gesture so far, "and it's hard. It doesn't get any easier."
For some, time has helped. Some.
Take the Lee family, who after nine months of snipping away at governmental red tape, was able to adopt Lex, the German shepherd that was Dustin Lee's partner in Iraq. Lee was a K-9 handler, and Lex had been trained to sniff out explosives.
"He served proudly, and was doing his job," said Lee's father, Jerome, who spent 25 years as a Mississippi Highway Patrolman and 30 years in the National Guard. "He was proud of our country and was proud to serve."
As were the members of the Marines-Together We Stand, who sponsored Saturday's gathering.
"Two years ago, this was four Marines in my back yard," said William "Hippie" David of McComb, who got the ball rolling for the Deep South event. "Now, we've got the Mississippi Marine Corps League involved and are trying to get as much publicity as we can.
"But we've basically doubled in size. Last year, we had 75 people."
Marines - "Because there's no such thing as a former Marine," said Clifton Addison of Purvis. "Once a Marine, always a Marine." - came from 20 different states to attend, including Minnesota, Montana, Maryland, Wisconsin and Ohio. One couple even came in from Hawaii.
Four Marine veterans of World War II were on hand, including John Reeves of McComb, who like Lucas, fought in the Fifth Marine Division that stormed Iwo Jima in 1945.
"I was with the occupational force in Japan, and me and a lieutenant from New York, we went into Nagasaki," Reeves said of the second and last city ever attacked with a nuclear bomb. "It was devastated."
Two other World War II vets, Bud Flowers of Magnolia and Red Womack of McComb, spent about a half hour talking with about a dozen "poolies," Marine recruits who were at the event, with some sporting T-shirts that read, "Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body."
"It's a Marine thing," said Womack, who went from a machine gunner to handling a flame-thrower during the island-jumping battles in the Pacific. "Marines enjoy getting together."
Flowers made four landings with the Second Marine Division, including early battles at Guadalcanal and Tarawa. He said he and Womack just told the newcomers to be prepared as best they could for what might lie ahead.
"It wasn't so much about our experiences, but just warned them to follow the rules and do what they were taught was right," Flowers said. "We could tell them some stories, but they probably wouldn't believe them. They have to see for themselves."
There was a Korean War veteran attending as well, but like David, many of the veterans on hand were from Vietnam, a group that never got its due, Carruth said.
"It's interesting that I sit here with them today, because all of my life, I've thought they'd been done so horribly," Carruth said. "And here they are, honoring my daughter, when they should be the ones being honored. Those people, who went there under horrible conditions - emotionally, physically, mentally - are really some of the best of the best."
Mary Draughn, Louisiana commander of the Marine Corps League, represented the Lucas family Saturday. Ruby Lucas, Jack's widow, had been hospitalized for exhaustion, but was doing fine, Draughn said.
"The last few weeks have been trying, to say the least," Draughn said. "But she wanted you to know that she and Jack were here in spirit."
The Carruth and Lee families were presented with Calla lilies, as well as plaques, in remembrance of their children's sacrifice.
Tears flowed, followed by heartfelt ooooo-hahs.
"To have Marines here from World War II to the present to the poolies, and from all over the country, it's really been something," Addison said.
Ellie