thedrifter
07-04-03, 07:22 AM
US Marines inspire Blues
By Adam Hawse
June 29, 2003
FOUR American marines have given an insight into how they infiltrated the inner-sanctum of the NSW Blues to help inspire Andrew Johns' team to a series victory over Queensland.
First Sergeant Charles Hessler and Gunnery Sergeants Rick Andersen, Daniel Boening and Erik Jackson say their lives have been changed after a chance meeting with Blues coach Phil Gould and assistant Laurie Daley last Sunday night at an eastern suburbs bar.
It began an amazing four days for both parties.
The quartet, in Sydney on a stopover from the war in Iraq, gave the Blues a motivational talk on Tuesday night.
So moved were the players, Gould insisted the marines join him on the coaching bench with 10 minutes left in the game.
He also said the players would not do their victory lap in front of the 80,000 at Telstra Stadium without them.
They even joined in the singing of the team song.
The Americans, who shipped out of Sydney aboard the Pearl Harbor on Friday morning, were referred to as NSW's "secret weapons".
"If they are calling us secret weapons, then those guys are the weapons of mass destruction!" Hessler, proudly wearing an autographed NSW jersey, joked.
The quartet were invited to talk to the players when it was realised they could convey the message Gould and Daley had been trying to deliver themselves. A message about courage and never giving up.
The men didn't think twice and for the next two days read up on rugby league, a sport which barely registers on the radar in the US.
Not wanting to crowd the room with outsiders, only Hessler and Andersen delivered the talk on the Tuesday night.
"Sometimes the best people to talk to the team aren't necessarily the best speakers, they're people that have been there and been inspiring in some way," explained Daley.
"Like Steve Waugh, who we got in for the first game.
"We thought the marines would be good because we spoke to them and they were good fellas and had good stories to relate to the boys."
The marines were in Iraq between February 3 and May 13 and among the first into Baghdad. The images they saw would turn empty stomachs, but they kept the talk simple.
"We talked about stories of courage," Andersen, 36, said.
"One of our marines was wounded when we were still in a hot area, but another of our men went to rescue that person and when he got there the marine had died.
"But he put himself in danger to rescue him and pulled him out.
"He didn't have to make that sacrifice, but he still pulled him back.
"We bring all our people back, whether they are alive or dead."
Hessler, 37, said: "We put the lives of 10 soldiers on the line to save one. That's just how it is."
This was the story that inspired the most.
"The marines were saying the bloke that risked his life to do it wasn't the best trainer," Blues utility Phil Bailey said.
"In fact, he was probably one of the worst in the group.
"But when courage came under fire, he was the best.
"The talk taught us about togetherness and how, if you all work together, you can get through it.
"That's what Phil kept stressing to us. To be like them, a solid unit."
Prop Robbie Kearns said: "It's chalk and cheese comparing war to a game of football, but they made the similarities between the two and how we have to work for each other."
The marines also spoke about being ambushed one day and pushing on regardless, never contemplating turning back. That would be defeat.
Sacrifice was another topic, the Americans saying that simple luxuries were forgotten in battle.
Boening never showered while in Iraq, the belated arrival of baby-wipes the only way to rid himself of dust and blood.
After the team talk, Hessler and Andersen were joined by Boening and Jackson on the team bus heading to Telstra Stadium for training.
The Americans were given a full tour of the venue before travelling back to Coogee with the team to enjoy dinner with them.
On game day a taxi took the quartet to Coogee's Crowne Plaza, where they again hitched a ride to Homebush Bay, helping staff prepare the ground and rubbing shoulders with bands Grinspoon and Human Nature.
Watching their first live league game, the marines couldn't believe the pace of Origin after being brought up on the stop-start nature of NFL.
"Watching games on television it seemed like it lasted forever, but being there live ... it was over in a heartbeat," Boening, 37, said.
"It was so exciting to watch. To be there in the crowd and seeing how hard they hit, time just flew by.
"It seemed like we got there, sat down, then the next minute we were leaving."
All four laughed and shook their heads in bewilderment when it was put to them their experiences in Sydney might not be believed back home.
Fortunately they took enough photos to sink a small warship.
"What we had was the equivalent of going to Super Bowl. The amount of people there was the same as Super Bowl," Jackson, 38, said.
"I will keep in contact and keep them updated. We'll be going back home and who knows what we'll be doing as marines, but I'd love to come back one day and watch another game."
With that the marines took to the Pearl Harbor, bowed to the American flag and asked permission to board, as is custom.
Then it was off home to meet family and friends they have not seen in six months ... and who are about to hear one hell of a story.
The Sunday Telegraph
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,6672004-23209,00.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
By Adam Hawse
June 29, 2003
FOUR American marines have given an insight into how they infiltrated the inner-sanctum of the NSW Blues to help inspire Andrew Johns' team to a series victory over Queensland.
First Sergeant Charles Hessler and Gunnery Sergeants Rick Andersen, Daniel Boening and Erik Jackson say their lives have been changed after a chance meeting with Blues coach Phil Gould and assistant Laurie Daley last Sunday night at an eastern suburbs bar.
It began an amazing four days for both parties.
The quartet, in Sydney on a stopover from the war in Iraq, gave the Blues a motivational talk on Tuesday night.
So moved were the players, Gould insisted the marines join him on the coaching bench with 10 minutes left in the game.
He also said the players would not do their victory lap in front of the 80,000 at Telstra Stadium without them.
They even joined in the singing of the team song.
The Americans, who shipped out of Sydney aboard the Pearl Harbor on Friday morning, were referred to as NSW's "secret weapons".
"If they are calling us secret weapons, then those guys are the weapons of mass destruction!" Hessler, proudly wearing an autographed NSW jersey, joked.
The quartet were invited to talk to the players when it was realised they could convey the message Gould and Daley had been trying to deliver themselves. A message about courage and never giving up.
The men didn't think twice and for the next two days read up on rugby league, a sport which barely registers on the radar in the US.
Not wanting to crowd the room with outsiders, only Hessler and Andersen delivered the talk on the Tuesday night.
"Sometimes the best people to talk to the team aren't necessarily the best speakers, they're people that have been there and been inspiring in some way," explained Daley.
"Like Steve Waugh, who we got in for the first game.
"We thought the marines would be good because we spoke to them and they were good fellas and had good stories to relate to the boys."
The marines were in Iraq between February 3 and May 13 and among the first into Baghdad. The images they saw would turn empty stomachs, but they kept the talk simple.
"We talked about stories of courage," Andersen, 36, said.
"One of our marines was wounded when we were still in a hot area, but another of our men went to rescue that person and when he got there the marine had died.
"But he put himself in danger to rescue him and pulled him out.
"He didn't have to make that sacrifice, but he still pulled him back.
"We bring all our people back, whether they are alive or dead."
Hessler, 37, said: "We put the lives of 10 soldiers on the line to save one. That's just how it is."
This was the story that inspired the most.
"The marines were saying the bloke that risked his life to do it wasn't the best trainer," Blues utility Phil Bailey said.
"In fact, he was probably one of the worst in the group.
"But when courage came under fire, he was the best.
"The talk taught us about togetherness and how, if you all work together, you can get through it.
"That's what Phil kept stressing to us. To be like them, a solid unit."
Prop Robbie Kearns said: "It's chalk and cheese comparing war to a game of football, but they made the similarities between the two and how we have to work for each other."
The marines also spoke about being ambushed one day and pushing on regardless, never contemplating turning back. That would be defeat.
Sacrifice was another topic, the Americans saying that simple luxuries were forgotten in battle.
Boening never showered while in Iraq, the belated arrival of baby-wipes the only way to rid himself of dust and blood.
After the team talk, Hessler and Andersen were joined by Boening and Jackson on the team bus heading to Telstra Stadium for training.
The Americans were given a full tour of the venue before travelling back to Coogee with the team to enjoy dinner with them.
On game day a taxi took the quartet to Coogee's Crowne Plaza, where they again hitched a ride to Homebush Bay, helping staff prepare the ground and rubbing shoulders with bands Grinspoon and Human Nature.
Watching their first live league game, the marines couldn't believe the pace of Origin after being brought up on the stop-start nature of NFL.
"Watching games on television it seemed like it lasted forever, but being there live ... it was over in a heartbeat," Boening, 37, said.
"It was so exciting to watch. To be there in the crowd and seeing how hard they hit, time just flew by.
"It seemed like we got there, sat down, then the next minute we were leaving."
All four laughed and shook their heads in bewilderment when it was put to them their experiences in Sydney might not be believed back home.
Fortunately they took enough photos to sink a small warship.
"What we had was the equivalent of going to Super Bowl. The amount of people there was the same as Super Bowl," Jackson, 38, said.
"I will keep in contact and keep them updated. We'll be going back home and who knows what we'll be doing as marines, but I'd love to come back one day and watch another game."
With that the marines took to the Pearl Harbor, bowed to the American flag and asked permission to board, as is custom.
Then it was off home to meet family and friends they have not seen in six months ... and who are about to hear one hell of a story.
The Sunday Telegraph
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,6672004-23209,00.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: