thedrifter
12-13-08, 06:47 AM
December 13, 2008
Twentynine Palms unit pays tribute to those they lost in Afghanistan
Keith Matheny
The Desert Sun
TWENTYNINE PALMS — They fought. They came home. And on Friday, the men and women of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines took time to honor their fallen.
A special memorial service at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms remembered the 20 men who lost their lives during the unit's recent deployment to Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Richard Hall, commanding officer of the unit, told those assembled he will never shy away from retelling the successes and the tragedy of the 2/7 in Afghanistan.
“The story I have to tell is a good one — one of outrageous courage, valor, selfless sacrifice and honor,” he said.
“Many of you will tell of their love, their laughter, their hopes and their dreams. We will together recount not how each man died, but how each man lived.”
The unit had among the highest casualties of any deployed to the war.
Several hundred family, friends and fellow Marines sat in bleachers, with nearly all of the unit's approximately 1,000 men and women on the field, at parade dress in neat rows.
One by one, the names of the fallen were called, as fellow Marines placed rifles in a line in special stands, barrel-down, a helmet resting on the rifle butt and a pair of boots in front, a traditional memorial for a Marine killed in action.
Other Marines took bouquets and American flags folded in crisp triangles to a long line of family members of the fallen Marines — some older fathers, themselves in Marine uniforms from service of an earlier time; others young widows holding babies, who will one day know their father's face only from photos and home videos.
A bagpiper played “Amazing Grace,” and Sgt. Maj. Matthew Brookshire called the roll, bellowing out each fallen Marine's name three times, the call met with silence, as other Marines laid their comrade's dog tags on their rifle.
After a seven-rifle salute, some family members sobbed softly as taps was played by a bugler and echo.
Lt. Russell Hale, the unit's chaplain, said a lesson lies in the honor and purpose with which the men lived and died.
“We need to understand the brevity of life,” he said. “We never know when we, too, will be called into eternity. And like our fallen brothers, we too need to always live our lives in a manner that's worthy of the calling we have received.”
The 2/7 served in Fallujah, Iraq, last year, returning in August 2007. In March it deployed to Afghanistan with an emphasis on training the Afghan National Police.
“We trained over 800 of them,” Hall said. “That's the baseline of security and the foundation of governance.”
As the memorial service concluded, family members gathered at the rifle memorials — some kneeling and weeping; others praying quietly. Some touched the dog tags, stroked the boot laces.
Marines who had served at the side of their loved one gathered with them, and traded stories:
Seng Sim stood at the memorial of his younger brother, Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, of Santa Ana, who was killed on Oct. 22 in Farah province, Afghanistan.
San Sim was born in the Philippines, his Cambodian family having fled the Khmer Rouge.
“Our family history is war-torn. We ran away from war,” Seng Sim said.
Joining just out of high school, San Sim had served two tours in Iraq before going to Afghanistan.
“Understanding how we fled just for freedom here, San wanted to fight for that freedom. He wanted to give those people the chance that we have here.”
Army Specialist Deon D. Taylor had served in the Army National Guard since 1997. The Bronx, N.Y., native was an undercover narcotics officer on the New York Police Department.
He volunteered to return to Afghanistan, his second time there, to serve with the 2/7 on an Afghan police mentoring team, said his father, Leon Taylor.
Deon Taylor's brother, Damarr McBean, said he didn't talk much about what he was doing over there.
“He didn't want anybody to worry,” he said. “He did everything in his power to make sure his family was good.”
Deon Taylor was killed on Oct. 22 in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
“It's what he wanted to do, to make a difference in life,” McBean said.
Jason Karella came from a military family in Fairbanks, Alaska. His grandfather had been a Marine, his father an Army pilot, his older brother an Army Special Forces medic in Iraq.
Jason Karella joined the Marine Corps.
Kevin Karella relished hearing the stories of his son from his fellow Marines on Friday.
Jason Karella had served in Iraq, and worried that some of the new, unseasoned Marines headed to Afghanistan weren't fully prepared, he drilled with them on room- and stairway-clearing in his spare time, Kevin Karella said the Marines told him.
“He was always the first one out of the truck,” Kevin Karella said he was told. “If it was kids, he was the first one out to hand them candy and a toy and talk with them.
“And if it was the (stuff) hitting the fan, he was the first one out of the truck to engage.”
Jason Karella, 20, was killed Oct. 9 in Farah province, Afghanistan.
He had a fiancée, Beth Ureta, who he adored, Kevin Karella said.
“He told me, ‘Dad, I don't have to worry about Beth being blown up in a grocery store back home, because we're keeping them real busy here,'” Kevin Karella said.
He said he received a call from his son about eight hours before he was killed, telling him the good news that the unit would be returning home two weeks earlier than expected.
The family was making arrangements to make sure it was home for the birth of Joshua Karella's first son, expected Nov. 7, but to also make it to Twentynine Palms for Jason's homecoming on Nov. 16.
“Less than 16 hours after that, the Marines knocked on our door and told us the bad news,” Kevin Karella said.
Joshua Karella named his newborn son Jason — for his brother.
Kevin Karella said he takes comfort from the fact that his son died in support of something he believed in strongly.
“He was proud of his service, but he wanted to come home and get married,” he said. “He wanted to be a police officer when he came home. But he wanted to do the job right, and then come home.
“We are going to miss him so much.”
Sgt. Maj. Adrian Robles of Chino Hills remembered his fallen friends Friday, including two of his closest friends from the unit, Sgt. Michael T. Washington, 20, who was killed on June 14 in Farah province; and the fellow Marine with whom Robles shared a name, Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, who was killed Oct. 22 in Helmand province.
“They were upstanding, original,” Sgt. Maj. Robles said of his friends.
“They were loud, obnoxious. No one could tell them anything. They were always voicing their opinion.”
His friends — who Robles said saved him in combat “countless times” — were also lighthearted at times that someone who's never been under fire may never understand.
“We always joked that humor is a flak jacket,” he said.
“When times got rough they always tried to lighten up the situation with a smile on their face.”
Though memorial services for the men had already been held in Afghanistan, Friday's ceremony was important, Robles said.
“It brings closure for the Marines not being able to go to the funerals,” he said.
“That's a big thing. It hurts to not be there to see them off to their final resting place.”
Friday's ceremony also allowed injured Marines from the unit and family members to pay a special remembrance, Hall said.
“These family members are so incredible, so giving,” he said.
“They've suffered a terrible loss, and yet they keep giving back to us.”
Additional Facts
Fallen warriors
Honored in a special memorial service by the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms on Friday were 20 men who lost their lives during the unit's recent deployment to Afghanistan. (All were Marines unless otherwise noted):
Sgt. Michael T. Washington, 20, killed June 14.
PFC Michael R. Patton, 19, killed June 14.
Lance Cpl. Layton B. Crass, 22, killed June 14.
PFC Dawid Pietrek, 24, killed June 14.
Capt. Eric D. Terhune, 34, killed June 19.
Lance Cpl. Andrew F. Whitacre, 21, killed June 19.
Sgt. Matthew E. Mendoza, 24, killed June 20.
Afghani interpreter Mohammad Abaid Dawary, killed June 20.
Navy Hospital Corpsman Dustin K. Burnett, 19, killed June 20.
Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Strickland, 25, killed June 25.
Lance Cpl. Ivan I. Wilson, 22, killed July 21.
Lance Cpl. Jacob J. Toves, 27, killed Aug. 14.
Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez-Castaneda, 29, killed Aug. 14.
Cpl. Anthony G. Mihalo, 23, killed Aug. 14.
Sgt. Jerome C. Bell Jr., 29, killed Sept. 19.
Cpl. Jason A. Karella, 20, killed Oct. 9.
Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, killed Oct. 22.
Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, killed Oct. 22.
Army Specialist Deon D. Taylor, 30, killed Oct. 22.
Ellie
Twentynine Palms unit pays tribute to those they lost in Afghanistan
Keith Matheny
The Desert Sun
TWENTYNINE PALMS — They fought. They came home. And on Friday, the men and women of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines took time to honor their fallen.
A special memorial service at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms remembered the 20 men who lost their lives during the unit's recent deployment to Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Richard Hall, commanding officer of the unit, told those assembled he will never shy away from retelling the successes and the tragedy of the 2/7 in Afghanistan.
“The story I have to tell is a good one — one of outrageous courage, valor, selfless sacrifice and honor,” he said.
“Many of you will tell of their love, their laughter, their hopes and their dreams. We will together recount not how each man died, but how each man lived.”
The unit had among the highest casualties of any deployed to the war.
Several hundred family, friends and fellow Marines sat in bleachers, with nearly all of the unit's approximately 1,000 men and women on the field, at parade dress in neat rows.
One by one, the names of the fallen were called, as fellow Marines placed rifles in a line in special stands, barrel-down, a helmet resting on the rifle butt and a pair of boots in front, a traditional memorial for a Marine killed in action.
Other Marines took bouquets and American flags folded in crisp triangles to a long line of family members of the fallen Marines — some older fathers, themselves in Marine uniforms from service of an earlier time; others young widows holding babies, who will one day know their father's face only from photos and home videos.
A bagpiper played “Amazing Grace,” and Sgt. Maj. Matthew Brookshire called the roll, bellowing out each fallen Marine's name three times, the call met with silence, as other Marines laid their comrade's dog tags on their rifle.
After a seven-rifle salute, some family members sobbed softly as taps was played by a bugler and echo.
Lt. Russell Hale, the unit's chaplain, said a lesson lies in the honor and purpose with which the men lived and died.
“We need to understand the brevity of life,” he said. “We never know when we, too, will be called into eternity. And like our fallen brothers, we too need to always live our lives in a manner that's worthy of the calling we have received.”
The 2/7 served in Fallujah, Iraq, last year, returning in August 2007. In March it deployed to Afghanistan with an emphasis on training the Afghan National Police.
“We trained over 800 of them,” Hall said. “That's the baseline of security and the foundation of governance.”
As the memorial service concluded, family members gathered at the rifle memorials — some kneeling and weeping; others praying quietly. Some touched the dog tags, stroked the boot laces.
Marines who had served at the side of their loved one gathered with them, and traded stories:
Seng Sim stood at the memorial of his younger brother, Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, of Santa Ana, who was killed on Oct. 22 in Farah province, Afghanistan.
San Sim was born in the Philippines, his Cambodian family having fled the Khmer Rouge.
“Our family history is war-torn. We ran away from war,” Seng Sim said.
Joining just out of high school, San Sim had served two tours in Iraq before going to Afghanistan.
“Understanding how we fled just for freedom here, San wanted to fight for that freedom. He wanted to give those people the chance that we have here.”
Army Specialist Deon D. Taylor had served in the Army National Guard since 1997. The Bronx, N.Y., native was an undercover narcotics officer on the New York Police Department.
He volunteered to return to Afghanistan, his second time there, to serve with the 2/7 on an Afghan police mentoring team, said his father, Leon Taylor.
Deon Taylor's brother, Damarr McBean, said he didn't talk much about what he was doing over there.
“He didn't want anybody to worry,” he said. “He did everything in his power to make sure his family was good.”
Deon Taylor was killed on Oct. 22 in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
“It's what he wanted to do, to make a difference in life,” McBean said.
Jason Karella came from a military family in Fairbanks, Alaska. His grandfather had been a Marine, his father an Army pilot, his older brother an Army Special Forces medic in Iraq.
Jason Karella joined the Marine Corps.
Kevin Karella relished hearing the stories of his son from his fellow Marines on Friday.
Jason Karella had served in Iraq, and worried that some of the new, unseasoned Marines headed to Afghanistan weren't fully prepared, he drilled with them on room- and stairway-clearing in his spare time, Kevin Karella said the Marines told him.
“He was always the first one out of the truck,” Kevin Karella said he was told. “If it was kids, he was the first one out to hand them candy and a toy and talk with them.
“And if it was the (stuff) hitting the fan, he was the first one out of the truck to engage.”
Jason Karella, 20, was killed Oct. 9 in Farah province, Afghanistan.
He had a fiancée, Beth Ureta, who he adored, Kevin Karella said.
“He told me, ‘Dad, I don't have to worry about Beth being blown up in a grocery store back home, because we're keeping them real busy here,'” Kevin Karella said.
He said he received a call from his son about eight hours before he was killed, telling him the good news that the unit would be returning home two weeks earlier than expected.
The family was making arrangements to make sure it was home for the birth of Joshua Karella's first son, expected Nov. 7, but to also make it to Twentynine Palms for Jason's homecoming on Nov. 16.
“Less than 16 hours after that, the Marines knocked on our door and told us the bad news,” Kevin Karella said.
Joshua Karella named his newborn son Jason — for his brother.
Kevin Karella said he takes comfort from the fact that his son died in support of something he believed in strongly.
“He was proud of his service, but he wanted to come home and get married,” he said. “He wanted to be a police officer when he came home. But he wanted to do the job right, and then come home.
“We are going to miss him so much.”
Sgt. Maj. Adrian Robles of Chino Hills remembered his fallen friends Friday, including two of his closest friends from the unit, Sgt. Michael T. Washington, 20, who was killed on June 14 in Farah province; and the fellow Marine with whom Robles shared a name, Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, who was killed Oct. 22 in Helmand province.
“They were upstanding, original,” Sgt. Maj. Robles said of his friends.
“They were loud, obnoxious. No one could tell them anything. They were always voicing their opinion.”
His friends — who Robles said saved him in combat “countless times” — were also lighthearted at times that someone who's never been under fire may never understand.
“We always joked that humor is a flak jacket,” he said.
“When times got rough they always tried to lighten up the situation with a smile on their face.”
Though memorial services for the men had already been held in Afghanistan, Friday's ceremony was important, Robles said.
“It brings closure for the Marines not being able to go to the funerals,” he said.
“That's a big thing. It hurts to not be there to see them off to their final resting place.”
Friday's ceremony also allowed injured Marines from the unit and family members to pay a special remembrance, Hall said.
“These family members are so incredible, so giving,” he said.
“They've suffered a terrible loss, and yet they keep giving back to us.”
Additional Facts
Fallen warriors
Honored in a special memorial service by the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms on Friday were 20 men who lost their lives during the unit's recent deployment to Afghanistan. (All were Marines unless otherwise noted):
Sgt. Michael T. Washington, 20, killed June 14.
PFC Michael R. Patton, 19, killed June 14.
Lance Cpl. Layton B. Crass, 22, killed June 14.
PFC Dawid Pietrek, 24, killed June 14.
Capt. Eric D. Terhune, 34, killed June 19.
Lance Cpl. Andrew F. Whitacre, 21, killed June 19.
Sgt. Matthew E. Mendoza, 24, killed June 20.
Afghani interpreter Mohammad Abaid Dawary, killed June 20.
Navy Hospital Corpsman Dustin K. Burnett, 19, killed June 20.
Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Strickland, 25, killed June 25.
Lance Cpl. Ivan I. Wilson, 22, killed July 21.
Lance Cpl. Jacob J. Toves, 27, killed Aug. 14.
Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez-Castaneda, 29, killed Aug. 14.
Cpl. Anthony G. Mihalo, 23, killed Aug. 14.
Sgt. Jerome C. Bell Jr., 29, killed Sept. 19.
Cpl. Jason A. Karella, 20, killed Oct. 9.
Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, killed Oct. 22.
Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, killed Oct. 22.
Army Specialist Deon D. Taylor, 30, killed Oct. 22.
Ellie