thedrifter
10-25-08, 06:20 AM
N.J. Marine earns Bronze Star
Saturday, October 25, 2008
BY JEFF TRENTLY
EWING -- Seven months in Iraq.
Seven months of small arms fire, snipers, roadside bombs and suicide attacks.
Seven months of heat and sand and sweat.
And seven months of service.
Marine Capt. Joseph Lizarraga spent seven months in Iraq, and last weekend, he was awarded the Bronze Star for just that.
Lizarraga, of Hamilton, led 85 Marines in the lethal war zone of Fallujah from September 2006 through April 2007. He and his Marines drove detainees by convoy down the ominous streets of the most violence-prone area in Iraq.
It was dangerous.
And deadly.
But Lizarraga and his Marines in Battery G survived seven months of it.
"This is what Marines do," he said.
Lizarraga, 38, was awarded the Bronze Star at the Golf Battery reserve center in Ewing Oct. 19.
"I'm humbled and honored," he said of the award. "If I could give the medal out to my Marines, I would."
His Marines at Golf Battery reserve -- 135 of them, all reservists -- have had an impact on Lizarraga.
"That's what I'm most impressed by -- these kids from New Jersey," he said.
Lizarraga was a 27-year-old from Arizona when he joined the Marines after working 10 years for corporate America.
"There was always a missing piece," he said of his life back then. "Going back to childhood, I always wanted to be a Marine officer."
At 27, the reality hit him.
"Is this really what I want to do with the rest of my life?" he asked himself.
Lizarraga left his job at UPS and went to the Quantico Marines Corps Base in Virginia for 10 weeks training.
"Believe me, my friends said, 'What are you doing? Dropping your career? Doing what? Dropping your job to go do what?' "
Lizarraga joined anyway.
"It was scary," he said. "There's no guarantee."
But Lizarraga never regretted it.
"If you have the opportunity to do something in life you may not ever get again, you better pull the trigger on it and do it," he said. "That's what I did. I'm glad I made that decision to this day."
Even through the dusty dangers of Iraqi streets?
"This might have been my most difficult mission," he said of Iraq. "It was complex. A lot of strategic implications."
Rebels would often target convoys carrying Iraqi prisoners.
"You have insurgents that are aware you may be holding detainees," Lizarraga said. "That in itself is a dangerous thing."
But it was risky for anyone to be on the road in Iraq at the time, he said. Transporting detainees only added to that risk.
And Lizarraga and his Marines had an overriding concern: Making sure detainees were treated humanely in accordance with the Geneva convention, he said.
"That's what Marines are for," he said. "Give a Marine a mission, give him the scope of it and he'll perform."
The Bronze Star was a reflection of the work all his Marines did, Lizarraga said.
"I felt very fortunate to have the type of Marine I had in Iraq," he said. "It's not me. I couldn't have done it without them."
Contact Jeff Trently at jtrently@njtimes.com.
Ellie
Saturday, October 25, 2008
BY JEFF TRENTLY
EWING -- Seven months in Iraq.
Seven months of small arms fire, snipers, roadside bombs and suicide attacks.
Seven months of heat and sand and sweat.
And seven months of service.
Marine Capt. Joseph Lizarraga spent seven months in Iraq, and last weekend, he was awarded the Bronze Star for just that.
Lizarraga, of Hamilton, led 85 Marines in the lethal war zone of Fallujah from September 2006 through April 2007. He and his Marines drove detainees by convoy down the ominous streets of the most violence-prone area in Iraq.
It was dangerous.
And deadly.
But Lizarraga and his Marines in Battery G survived seven months of it.
"This is what Marines do," he said.
Lizarraga, 38, was awarded the Bronze Star at the Golf Battery reserve center in Ewing Oct. 19.
"I'm humbled and honored," he said of the award. "If I could give the medal out to my Marines, I would."
His Marines at Golf Battery reserve -- 135 of them, all reservists -- have had an impact on Lizarraga.
"That's what I'm most impressed by -- these kids from New Jersey," he said.
Lizarraga was a 27-year-old from Arizona when he joined the Marines after working 10 years for corporate America.
"There was always a missing piece," he said of his life back then. "Going back to childhood, I always wanted to be a Marine officer."
At 27, the reality hit him.
"Is this really what I want to do with the rest of my life?" he asked himself.
Lizarraga left his job at UPS and went to the Quantico Marines Corps Base in Virginia for 10 weeks training.
"Believe me, my friends said, 'What are you doing? Dropping your career? Doing what? Dropping your job to go do what?' "
Lizarraga joined anyway.
"It was scary," he said. "There's no guarantee."
But Lizarraga never regretted it.
"If you have the opportunity to do something in life you may not ever get again, you better pull the trigger on it and do it," he said. "That's what I did. I'm glad I made that decision to this day."
Even through the dusty dangers of Iraqi streets?
"This might have been my most difficult mission," he said of Iraq. "It was complex. A lot of strategic implications."
Rebels would often target convoys carrying Iraqi prisoners.
"You have insurgents that are aware you may be holding detainees," Lizarraga said. "That in itself is a dangerous thing."
But it was risky for anyone to be on the road in Iraq at the time, he said. Transporting detainees only added to that risk.
And Lizarraga and his Marines had an overriding concern: Making sure detainees were treated humanely in accordance with the Geneva convention, he said.
"That's what Marines are for," he said. "Give a Marine a mission, give him the scope of it and he'll perform."
The Bronze Star was a reflection of the work all his Marines did, Lizarraga said.
"I felt very fortunate to have the type of Marine I had in Iraq," he said. "It's not me. I couldn't have done it without them."
Contact Jeff Trently at jtrently@njtimes.com.
Ellie