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thedrifter
08-05-03, 05:11 AM
Home: Ribbons, Cheers And Tears For 300 Returning Marines

By Nedra Rhone
STAFF WRITER

August 4, 2003


For five months they had organized phone chains, e-mail lists, and one of them even coordinated a 3,000-bag care package delivery to Iraq. Yesterday, finally, they prepared for a homecoming.

They started at 6 a.m. For every tree on a quarter-mile stretch of Stewart Avenue in Garden City, the women hung yellow ribbons and red, white and blue banners.

There were handmade signs, posters and photo montages hanging on the fences surrounding the Sgt. John F. Mackie Center, headquarters for the 300 Marines of the 2nd Battalion 25th Regiment reservists.

When the 10 buses escorted by Nassau County police officers came into view around noon, the crowd of hundreds reached a feverish excitement. They called out names, chanted "U.S.A," hugged one another and cried as the Marines, confined to the buses for the moment, banged their fists on the tinted windows in appreciation.

"I've never had so many people cheering for me in my life," said Lance Cpl. Daniel Jones, 20, of East Northport. His family, waiting in a white stretch BMW limousine, had kept in touch through e-mail and by reading an on-line column of a reporter who was with the battalion, said Pat Jones, Daniel's mother.

But the five months in Iraq was Jones' first time overseas, and the hardest thing about being away, he said, was not knowing what was happening at home. Still, while he missed weddings, birthdays and other family events, Jones learned an important lesson. "I learned not to take anything for granted," he said. "When you're in Iraq it makes you appreciate things more."

For the duration of their duty in and around Nasiriyah, the men stayed focused. There on the south bank of the Euphrates River they saw towns collapse around them, knowing that when combat ended, they would be the ones to rebuild.

And when the time came, they desalinated river water and used it to start up a power plant. They distributed $30-million worth of medical supplies to get hospitals in working order, said Capt. Ray Lopes. After a three-week closure, they reopened schools with books and supplies - 20 schools in the province of Thigar alone.

"The whole war was very, very difficult," said Capt. Jack McGonagle of Manhattan. "It's going to take a while. We are going to be there for a long time."

But while the conflict continues and some will remain on active duty, yesterday these Marines focused only on being home.

"I'm on cloud nine right now," said Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Montiel of Manorville. His wife, Ann, along with Kathy DuPont, Laurie Yuditsky and Marie Arcentales, were among the wives of soldiers who woke at dawn to begin preparing for the homecoming. Some of the soldiers found it difficult to express how good it felt to be back.

"I can't put it into words," said Gunnery Sgt. Jim DuPont. "It's been a long 5 1/2 months."

The Garden City resident kept in touch through letters and occasional phone calls. Yesterday, as he walked from the buses into the center where the soldiers spent two hours unloading weapons and receiving papers before joining their families, Kathy DuPont broke from the crowd to embrace her husband. "Being separated from my family" was the greatest challenge, DuPont said.

For the 20 relatives waiting for Sgt. William Dougherty, 31, yesterday's homecoming was bittersweet. The Bay Shore man was returning home, but his twin brother, James, who is in the Army, remains in Baghdad. "I'm half happy," said Dougherty's mother. "I'm ecstatic about one coming home and sad about not having heard from the other."

The afternoon gave Pat Cassetta of the United Veterans' Committee of Nassau County another chance to recall his homecoming as a young Marine in World War II. "The people were so grateful that we had won that war," Cassetta said. "They were so grateful to see us. We were so happy to be home."

And as the 300 Marines exited the heavy gates of the base and were sucked in by the cheering crowd, it seemed that at least in some ways, nothing had changed.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lirese043401469aug04,0,5156683.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

thedrifter
08-05-03, 05:14 AM
Marine reservists welcomed home

113 Marines return to Topeka from deployment duty

Marine reservists stationed at the Site Support, General Support Ammunition Platoon in Topeka did something Saturday that they had never done in the unit's 50-year history. They had a welcome home party.

The party was from 9 a.m. to noon at the Hillcrest Community Center, 1800 S.W. 21st Street.

The returning 113 reservists were called to active duty earlier this year for Operation Enduring Freedom and were deployed to Camp Pendleton, an ammunition supply point, in southern California. They were serving as a replacement crew for active-duty Marines who had been sent to Iraq.

It was the first time the entire unit had been activated since its inception in 1954.
Knowing his unit never had been called to active duty, even during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm, Lance Cpl. Michael Lewis-Jones said he was shocked when he received word about the deployment. His fiancee, Melissa Johnson, was relieved he was sent to California.

"I was lucky," she said, "because I at least got to talk to him (on the phone) every day."

The Marines had to deal with a variety of emotions ranging from guilt to relief about serving in California rather than in Iraq, said 1st Sergeant Dale Banker, a Marine for 21 years who is one of nine active-duty staff members providing support for the reserve platoon.

"As long as you have a purpose," he said, "it doesn't matter if you're doing it in Bahgdad or doing it in Topeka. It all serves the higher purpose."

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Ronald Brown said the unit was called up -- and likely will be called up again during future wars and skirmishes -- because in the mid-1990s it was reclassified as an ammunition unit. Reservists in the unit now serve as military occupation specialists, a critical job for the Marine Corps.
"Without bullets and hand grenades," he said, "you can't fight a war."

Kasha Stoll can be reached at (785) 295-1270 or kasha.stoll@cjonline.com.


http://www.cjonline.com/stories/080303/loc_reservists.shtml


Sempers,

Roger
:marine: