thedrifter
10-15-08, 09:20 AM
Kewanee Marine’s name, hometown accompany jet on missions over Iraq
By Dave Clarke
Star Courier
Tue Oct 14, 2008, 09:31 PM CDT
Kewanee, Ill. -
Somewhere in the skies over Iraq there’s a jet fighter with “Kewanee” stenciled on the side.
Above the name of the city is that of a native son, Sgt. Jacob Hampton.
How did they get there?
We recently received an e-mail from Cpl. Monique Smith, public affairs chief with a Marine F/A-18 Hornet squadron stationed at Al Asad Air Base in Al Anbar Province, in western Iraq. “My goal is to tell the story of the Marines deployed here,” wrote Cpl. Smith.
One of those Marines, she said, is Sgt. Jacob W. Hampton, son of Glenn and Nina Hampton. He is the youngest of three sons, all in the Marine Corps.
Jacob’s oldest brother, Jeramy, leaves this month for Afghanistan, while his other brother, Joshua, is currently stationed at Keonoe Bay, Hawaii.
Jacob has been in the Marine Corps almost five years, and is on his second enlistment, according to Cpl. Smith.
His wife gave birth to a daughter three days after the squadron left the Marine Corps Air Station at Beaufort, S.C., for this deployment.
We then heard from Sgt. Hampton himself, refer-red to us by Cpl. Smith.
As when the Galva National Guard went to Iraq three years ago, it never ceases to amaze me how, with modern technology, we can sit at our computer here in Kewanee and converse back and forth with someone in a combat zone as if they were next door.
Sgt. Hampton explained that he is the aviation mechanic on the F/A-18C Hornet in Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122, deployed at Al Asad Air Base. “I am a plane captain and engine/fuel systems mechanic. I deal with the whole fuel system and all of its components,” said Hampton who must have a pretty busy day, judging from his “laundry list” of responsibilities. “I also launch, recover, service the oil, change the tires, fuel the jets, do daily inspections, conditional engine inspections, turnaround inspections (between flights), change engines, engine components, fuel cells, and fuel components,” Hampton said. “I am the first person to see the pilot and the last one to tell him his jet is good to go before he takes flight.”
With technology it seems nothing is too far from where we sit, but knowing a jet fighter is flying missions over Iraq, protecting our troops, with “Kewanee” on the side, is truly amazing.
Ellie
By Dave Clarke
Star Courier
Tue Oct 14, 2008, 09:31 PM CDT
Kewanee, Ill. -
Somewhere in the skies over Iraq there’s a jet fighter with “Kewanee” stenciled on the side.
Above the name of the city is that of a native son, Sgt. Jacob Hampton.
How did they get there?
We recently received an e-mail from Cpl. Monique Smith, public affairs chief with a Marine F/A-18 Hornet squadron stationed at Al Asad Air Base in Al Anbar Province, in western Iraq. “My goal is to tell the story of the Marines deployed here,” wrote Cpl. Smith.
One of those Marines, she said, is Sgt. Jacob W. Hampton, son of Glenn and Nina Hampton. He is the youngest of three sons, all in the Marine Corps.
Jacob’s oldest brother, Jeramy, leaves this month for Afghanistan, while his other brother, Joshua, is currently stationed at Keonoe Bay, Hawaii.
Jacob has been in the Marine Corps almost five years, and is on his second enlistment, according to Cpl. Smith.
His wife gave birth to a daughter three days after the squadron left the Marine Corps Air Station at Beaufort, S.C., for this deployment.
We then heard from Sgt. Hampton himself, refer-red to us by Cpl. Smith.
As when the Galva National Guard went to Iraq three years ago, it never ceases to amaze me how, with modern technology, we can sit at our computer here in Kewanee and converse back and forth with someone in a combat zone as if they were next door.
Sgt. Hampton explained that he is the aviation mechanic on the F/A-18C Hornet in Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122, deployed at Al Asad Air Base. “I am a plane captain and engine/fuel systems mechanic. I deal with the whole fuel system and all of its components,” said Hampton who must have a pretty busy day, judging from his “laundry list” of responsibilities. “I also launch, recover, service the oil, change the tires, fuel the jets, do daily inspections, conditional engine inspections, turnaround inspections (between flights), change engines, engine components, fuel cells, and fuel components,” Hampton said. “I am the first person to see the pilot and the last one to tell him his jet is good to go before he takes flight.”
With technology it seems nothing is too far from where we sit, but knowing a jet fighter is flying missions over Iraq, protecting our troops, with “Kewanee” on the side, is truly amazing.
Ellie