thedrifter
05-17-09, 08:12 AM
Dennis Anderson: Corps values as dad and son go hunting
By DENNIS ANDERSON, Star Tribune
May 16, 2009
Last winter, while Lance Cpl. Ben Sexe, U.S. Marine Corps, was sweating in Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa, his dad, Andy, was appealing to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for a couple of permits to hunt turkeys. The request was not out of the ordinary: Employing the usual process, Andy filled out one permit form for himself, and another for his son.
Ben had enlisted in the Corps when he was just 17, while still a high school student in Belle Plaine. Other kids his age had plans for college, some would be looking for work.
Ask Ben why he signed up to be a Marine and he doesn't reply immediately.
The answer, he soon suggests with a smile, should be obvious: Because being a Marine is not like being anything, or anyone, else.
"Besides," he says, "there's the travel, the adventure -- and you get to play with guns."
A neat young man, Ben. And well traveled, having now spent eight months in Africa. Where was he, again?
"Djibouti borders Ethiopia," he said. "And Somalia."
The turkey hunting permits, if Andy could get them, would be a big deal to him and Ben. But Andy didn't tell his son he had applied, in part because he didn't want to set up Ben for disappointment, if the permit applications were denied.
"Being able to hunt with Ben between deployments was important to me," Andy said. "He had volunteered to go to Iraq after he came home from Africa, and to be able to spend some time hunting, like we did when Ben was a kid, would be great."
Now 20 years old, Ben was a Marine within a month after graduating from high school. He signed up for six years as a U.S. Marine Corps reservist, but essentially has seen active duty since leaving the Twin Cities for boot camp in California. "Boot camp was what I expected it to be," he said.
Marine combat training followed, then military police school. In September 2008, Ben shipped out to Africa.
"I was always interested in being a Marine, and when I was in high school, I went to see a recruiter in Burnsville," he said.
He liked what he heard.
"Ben called me and asked what I would think if he joined the Marine Corps," Andy said. "I told him I would support him whatever he did."
The father's declaration of support didn't come easily. Andy hadn't served in the military, and his oldest son -- Ben's brother, Cody -- was in college, not the service.
Plus, there was the war in Iraq. Andy could think of safer places for his son to be.
"But it's what Ben wanted, and his mother was supportive, too," Andy said.
Andy and Ben had long ago forged a close relationship, especially through their common love of hunting. When he was in seventh grade, Ben traveled with his dad to Wyoming, and both killed antelope. The pair hunted turkeys together, also, and other birds. It was what they liked to do, and Ben was good at it, safe with a gun, skilled.
So the day Andy learned he and Ben had been awarded Wisconsin turkey hunting permits was an important day. He thought about telling Ben while he was still in Africa, but he didn't.
Instead, Ben first learned about the permits when he arrived home May 5.
Was it a big deal for Ben when he heard he would get a chance to hunt with his dad?
"Definitely," he said. "Hunting with my dad was always a good time. Just getting a chance to get out into the woods with him will be great."
When you're 20 years old and a Marine, and moving around the world, time compresses, and experiences compound.
Since coming home, Ben has bought a fast motorcycle, and knows now the thrill of leaning the machine into a turn on a cool spring day in May.
New to Ben also is how warmly young servicemen and women walking through American airports these days are greeted.
"The first time it happened, when someone in an airport came up to me and shook my hand, thanking me for my service, I was in Denver," he said.
Said Andy: "After Ben told me that, there's not a time in an airport when I see someone in the service that I don't approach them to shake their hand and thank them for their service."
Last week, father and son loaded up their camouflage gear, turkey hunting vests and Ben's 12 gauge semi-automatic Beretta, and headed for hunting land near Boyceville, Wis.
The countryside there is rich with turkeys, and the two had been loaned a camp in the woods to call their own for a couple of days.
"Ben and I hunted hard, but I think with the wind and the rain, the turkeys just weren't responding like they normally would," Andy said.
So it goes.
Some things can't be controlled.
One son goes to college, another heads to boot camp.
Again, why the Marines?
The answer to that question, Ben's smile says, should be obvious.
"I volunteered for Iraq, and after that, who knows, I might go to Afghanistan," he said. "I like working with Marines. I like seeing the world and traveling, doing my part. I like what we do."
Andy seems not quite so sure of everything.
For certain, he knows only that for now, Ben's home from Africa. And hunting turkeys with him.
In early July, Ben will deploy for Iraq.
Next year, perhaps, they'll hunt together again. Or perhaps not until the year after that.
"Having Ben go away and be a part of what's going on in the world, and now leaving again so soon ..." Andy said. "I'm really glad that while he's here I can hunt with him."
Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com
Ellie
By DENNIS ANDERSON, Star Tribune
May 16, 2009
Last winter, while Lance Cpl. Ben Sexe, U.S. Marine Corps, was sweating in Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa, his dad, Andy, was appealing to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for a couple of permits to hunt turkeys. The request was not out of the ordinary: Employing the usual process, Andy filled out one permit form for himself, and another for his son.
Ben had enlisted in the Corps when he was just 17, while still a high school student in Belle Plaine. Other kids his age had plans for college, some would be looking for work.
Ask Ben why he signed up to be a Marine and he doesn't reply immediately.
The answer, he soon suggests with a smile, should be obvious: Because being a Marine is not like being anything, or anyone, else.
"Besides," he says, "there's the travel, the adventure -- and you get to play with guns."
A neat young man, Ben. And well traveled, having now spent eight months in Africa. Where was he, again?
"Djibouti borders Ethiopia," he said. "And Somalia."
The turkey hunting permits, if Andy could get them, would be a big deal to him and Ben. But Andy didn't tell his son he had applied, in part because he didn't want to set up Ben for disappointment, if the permit applications were denied.
"Being able to hunt with Ben between deployments was important to me," Andy said. "He had volunteered to go to Iraq after he came home from Africa, and to be able to spend some time hunting, like we did when Ben was a kid, would be great."
Now 20 years old, Ben was a Marine within a month after graduating from high school. He signed up for six years as a U.S. Marine Corps reservist, but essentially has seen active duty since leaving the Twin Cities for boot camp in California. "Boot camp was what I expected it to be," he said.
Marine combat training followed, then military police school. In September 2008, Ben shipped out to Africa.
"I was always interested in being a Marine, and when I was in high school, I went to see a recruiter in Burnsville," he said.
He liked what he heard.
"Ben called me and asked what I would think if he joined the Marine Corps," Andy said. "I told him I would support him whatever he did."
The father's declaration of support didn't come easily. Andy hadn't served in the military, and his oldest son -- Ben's brother, Cody -- was in college, not the service.
Plus, there was the war in Iraq. Andy could think of safer places for his son to be.
"But it's what Ben wanted, and his mother was supportive, too," Andy said.
Andy and Ben had long ago forged a close relationship, especially through their common love of hunting. When he was in seventh grade, Ben traveled with his dad to Wyoming, and both killed antelope. The pair hunted turkeys together, also, and other birds. It was what they liked to do, and Ben was good at it, safe with a gun, skilled.
So the day Andy learned he and Ben had been awarded Wisconsin turkey hunting permits was an important day. He thought about telling Ben while he was still in Africa, but he didn't.
Instead, Ben first learned about the permits when he arrived home May 5.
Was it a big deal for Ben when he heard he would get a chance to hunt with his dad?
"Definitely," he said. "Hunting with my dad was always a good time. Just getting a chance to get out into the woods with him will be great."
When you're 20 years old and a Marine, and moving around the world, time compresses, and experiences compound.
Since coming home, Ben has bought a fast motorcycle, and knows now the thrill of leaning the machine into a turn on a cool spring day in May.
New to Ben also is how warmly young servicemen and women walking through American airports these days are greeted.
"The first time it happened, when someone in an airport came up to me and shook my hand, thanking me for my service, I was in Denver," he said.
Said Andy: "After Ben told me that, there's not a time in an airport when I see someone in the service that I don't approach them to shake their hand and thank them for their service."
Last week, father and son loaded up their camouflage gear, turkey hunting vests and Ben's 12 gauge semi-automatic Beretta, and headed for hunting land near Boyceville, Wis.
The countryside there is rich with turkeys, and the two had been loaned a camp in the woods to call their own for a couple of days.
"Ben and I hunted hard, but I think with the wind and the rain, the turkeys just weren't responding like they normally would," Andy said.
So it goes.
Some things can't be controlled.
One son goes to college, another heads to boot camp.
Again, why the Marines?
The answer to that question, Ben's smile says, should be obvious.
"I volunteered for Iraq, and after that, who knows, I might go to Afghanistan," he said. "I like working with Marines. I like seeing the world and traveling, doing my part. I like what we do."
Andy seems not quite so sure of everything.
For certain, he knows only that for now, Ben's home from Africa. And hunting turkeys with him.
In early July, Ben will deploy for Iraq.
Next year, perhaps, they'll hunt together again. Or perhaps not until the year after that.
"Having Ben go away and be a part of what's going on in the world, and now leaving again so soon ..." Andy said. "I'm really glad that while he's here I can hunt with him."
Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com
Ellie