thedrifter
05-15-09, 07:28 AM
Local Marine brings a few of life’s luxuries to Iraq
By JILL FANKHAUSER
Alaska Star
In a small village on the northern border of Iraq and Syria, there are little boys playing with new soccer balls and little girls drawing with new colored pencils - all thanks to Alaska-based Marines.
Eagle River Marine Reservist Lance Cpl. Michael Kocher, 25, arrived home May 2 after serving seven months in Iraq. His unit, Delta Company, 4th Anti-Terrorism Battalion, based at Elmendorf Air Force Base, was sent to Iraq last fall and spent a majority of their deployment in a village near the Syrian border.
Kocher, who worked in intelligence and communications, realized early in the mission his company could do something to improve the quality of life for the children in the village.
“All the convoys would take candy to toss to the kids. I’d always read that there were groups that would send over shipments of soccer balls and things like that to handout,” he said. “I tried to get in touch with them and didn’t have a lot of luck.”
Kocher enlisted the help of his mom, Lynn Kocher, a cafeteria manager at Alpenglow Elementary School.
“Mom runs youth bowling leagues, coaches for Eagle River High School and used to run a snack bar for Knik Little League,” he said. “She’s really connected in the community - especially with other volunteer-minded people.”
Kocher said his mom asked friends for donations and collected 50 soccer balls and 120 bags of school supplies, toys and candy. Another Anchorage-based Marine mom sent 70 stuffed toys for small children.
A close family friend sent Kocher two very nice artist sets. Kocher asked villagers if there were little girls who had talent and could benefit from the sets.
“Hopefully someday some famous Iraqi artist can talk about how she got her start from an art set that the Americans gave her,” Kocher said.
After receiving items from his mom and other parents in Alaska, the U.S. Army helped Kocher’s company organize the distribution of school and art supplies, toys, candy and soccer balls to the village’s 160 children.
Kocher was concerned girls might be left out - but village leaders made sure the girls were first in line to receive the items, he said.
‘Water is a luxury’
Kocher’s company first landed in Al-Asad, a large U.S. occupied military base in the center of Iraq - which Kocher said is comparable to most stateside bases with Starbucks coffee shops, Burger King and several other popular American restaurants.
The Marines were quickly tagged with a mission to help secure the Syrian border near Turkey - a remote area with small villages.
Kocher’s base was tiny, about 400 square-meters and had few facilities. There was no dining hall or permanent bathrooms. Soldiers relied on a water trailer for two-minute showers and typically ate freeze-dried or vacuum-sealed food, called MREs, or meals ready to eat, or got food from bigger bases nearby.
The base had signs all over that read, “Water is a luxury,” Kocher said.
The company, which included 40 Anchorage reservists and 40 from Montana, did foot patrols, inspected border crossers and trained Iraqi officers to inspect potential smuggles.
“The borders are under Iraqi control. We want to get them (to control the border) without help of Americans,” Kocher said, “To make them more self-reliant.”
Smuggling is big business on the border. Kocher doesn’t believe weapons were coming across, but highly valued items, like cigarettes and sheep, were being smuggled. The Marines helped the Iraqi officers keep control over the border between Syria and Iraq and deter smugglers.
“Everyone we worked with was really friendly. They’d joke around with us,” he said.
Kocher’s company did not suffer combat injuries or loss of life during their mission.
“It was probably one of the safer areas in the country,” he said.
A good impression
Kocher is 6-feet 8 inches tall and lean with a military haircut. Even after being in the desert, he jokingly complained about Eagle River’s recent warm-weather streak. It’s too cool to wear shorts, but too hot to wear jeans, he said.
Living in a Middle Eastern desert, instead of with his family in Eagle River, made Kocher a little homesick.
“I missed snow, snowboarding and having all the water and trees we have in Alaska. I missed green a lot,” he said.
He said his experience in Iraq was good - and he would do it again. He’s been in the Reserves for three years, and has another three to serve. He’s not sure if he will be deployed again.
“Even when the war started, I didn’t particularly agree with the war. I knew other people my age over there, so I figured I ought to be with them.”
Going over to Iraq with the same life experience made the deployment easier, he said.
“It was nice to have a bunch of people you could relate to. We’d talk about things back home, like ‘Oh man, I bet the silvers are running really good right now.’ It just made everything a little bit better.”
This fall Kocher will focused on finishing the last year of his political science degree at the University of Alaska Anchorage and applying to graduate schools for a master’s degree in public administration. He’d like to become a political consultant and eventually enter into elected politics.
Looking back on his Iraq experience, Kocher said it made a big impression on him, for the good.
“As far as impacting me, it’s made me want to better myself - just by seeing how a lot of people live over there and things like that. I think ‘Wow, we really take a lot for granted over here,’” Kocher said.
This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, May 14, 2009.
Ellie
By JILL FANKHAUSER
Alaska Star
In a small village on the northern border of Iraq and Syria, there are little boys playing with new soccer balls and little girls drawing with new colored pencils - all thanks to Alaska-based Marines.
Eagle River Marine Reservist Lance Cpl. Michael Kocher, 25, arrived home May 2 after serving seven months in Iraq. His unit, Delta Company, 4th Anti-Terrorism Battalion, based at Elmendorf Air Force Base, was sent to Iraq last fall and spent a majority of their deployment in a village near the Syrian border.
Kocher, who worked in intelligence and communications, realized early in the mission his company could do something to improve the quality of life for the children in the village.
“All the convoys would take candy to toss to the kids. I’d always read that there were groups that would send over shipments of soccer balls and things like that to handout,” he said. “I tried to get in touch with them and didn’t have a lot of luck.”
Kocher enlisted the help of his mom, Lynn Kocher, a cafeteria manager at Alpenglow Elementary School.
“Mom runs youth bowling leagues, coaches for Eagle River High School and used to run a snack bar for Knik Little League,” he said. “She’s really connected in the community - especially with other volunteer-minded people.”
Kocher said his mom asked friends for donations and collected 50 soccer balls and 120 bags of school supplies, toys and candy. Another Anchorage-based Marine mom sent 70 stuffed toys for small children.
A close family friend sent Kocher two very nice artist sets. Kocher asked villagers if there were little girls who had talent and could benefit from the sets.
“Hopefully someday some famous Iraqi artist can talk about how she got her start from an art set that the Americans gave her,” Kocher said.
After receiving items from his mom and other parents in Alaska, the U.S. Army helped Kocher’s company organize the distribution of school and art supplies, toys, candy and soccer balls to the village’s 160 children.
Kocher was concerned girls might be left out - but village leaders made sure the girls were first in line to receive the items, he said.
‘Water is a luxury’
Kocher’s company first landed in Al-Asad, a large U.S. occupied military base in the center of Iraq - which Kocher said is comparable to most stateside bases with Starbucks coffee shops, Burger King and several other popular American restaurants.
The Marines were quickly tagged with a mission to help secure the Syrian border near Turkey - a remote area with small villages.
Kocher’s base was tiny, about 400 square-meters and had few facilities. There was no dining hall or permanent bathrooms. Soldiers relied on a water trailer for two-minute showers and typically ate freeze-dried or vacuum-sealed food, called MREs, or meals ready to eat, or got food from bigger bases nearby.
The base had signs all over that read, “Water is a luxury,” Kocher said.
The company, which included 40 Anchorage reservists and 40 from Montana, did foot patrols, inspected border crossers and trained Iraqi officers to inspect potential smuggles.
“The borders are under Iraqi control. We want to get them (to control the border) without help of Americans,” Kocher said, “To make them more self-reliant.”
Smuggling is big business on the border. Kocher doesn’t believe weapons were coming across, but highly valued items, like cigarettes and sheep, were being smuggled. The Marines helped the Iraqi officers keep control over the border between Syria and Iraq and deter smugglers.
“Everyone we worked with was really friendly. They’d joke around with us,” he said.
Kocher’s company did not suffer combat injuries or loss of life during their mission.
“It was probably one of the safer areas in the country,” he said.
A good impression
Kocher is 6-feet 8 inches tall and lean with a military haircut. Even after being in the desert, he jokingly complained about Eagle River’s recent warm-weather streak. It’s too cool to wear shorts, but too hot to wear jeans, he said.
Living in a Middle Eastern desert, instead of with his family in Eagle River, made Kocher a little homesick.
“I missed snow, snowboarding and having all the water and trees we have in Alaska. I missed green a lot,” he said.
He said his experience in Iraq was good - and he would do it again. He’s been in the Reserves for three years, and has another three to serve. He’s not sure if he will be deployed again.
“Even when the war started, I didn’t particularly agree with the war. I knew other people my age over there, so I figured I ought to be with them.”
Going over to Iraq with the same life experience made the deployment easier, he said.
“It was nice to have a bunch of people you could relate to. We’d talk about things back home, like ‘Oh man, I bet the silvers are running really good right now.’ It just made everything a little bit better.”
This fall Kocher will focused on finishing the last year of his political science degree at the University of Alaska Anchorage and applying to graduate schools for a master’s degree in public administration. He’d like to become a political consultant and eventually enter into elected politics.
Looking back on his Iraq experience, Kocher said it made a big impression on him, for the good.
“As far as impacting me, it’s made me want to better myself - just by seeing how a lot of people live over there and things like that. I think ‘Wow, we really take a lot for granted over here,’” Kocher said.
This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, May 14, 2009.
Ellie