thedrifter
08-31-09, 08:43 AM
Fall River native leading Marines in Afghanistan
By Derek Vital
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Aug 30, 2009 @ 10:09 PM
FALL RIVER —
The ordinary stresses of daily life simply don't compare to what Anibal Paz has dealt with.
On May 16, the Fall River native was deployed to Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, also known as America’s Battalion.
Sergeant Paz is on the front lines of the battle with Taliban insurgents. Washington Post reporter Ann Scott Tyson following Paz’s battalion during a recent firefight. The battalion killed three Taliban fighters in the confrontation.
“They thought it was just a little four-man team,” Paz said. “They didn’t know I had 16 men and I split them down the middle.”
Paz graduated from B.M.C. Durfee High School in 2001 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps later that year. His parents, Isabel and Fernando, along with three sisters and a brother, all live in Fall River.
After two tours in Iraq, Paz returned to Fall River in 2005, where he served as a recruiter for the Marines. The job allowed him to teach young men and women about the difference they could make by joining the military.
Paz married his wife Connie in 2006. They now live in Jacksonville, N.C., where he is stationed at Camp Lejeune. Paz is halfway through his current 210-day deployment. He said he plans to retire from the Marine Corps when his enlistment expires in 2013.
Connie Paz said her husband’s love of his country is his top priority.
“My husband puts everyone before himself,” said Connie Paz. “ Above all comes his country. He truly loves his job as a squad leader with Echo Company. I want everyone to realize what hard work and dedication goes into serving our country. The people of Fall River should be inspired that one of their very own is making history as one of 'the few, the proud.'”
Connie Paz said that her husband’s stay in Afghanistan has been extremely rough, even by Marine standards. Of their 59 days spent patrolling the desert, there have been 30 days of firefights. Temperatures are routinely in the triple digits, and the batallion went six weeks without being able to take a shower.
On the rare occasions Paz is allowed the call home, the conversations are brief. Letters sent home from Afghanistan do not arrive for several weeks.
A recent letter from Paz, dated Aug. 4, arrived in his wife’s mailbox more than three weeks later. In the handwritten note, Sgt. Paz chronicled the life of a Marine who is fighting for his life, his troops and his country nearly every second of every day.
“Not much to report from out here. Same story, 126 degrees in the shade, sandy, and idiots trying to kill me everyday. I can’t wait to get home, take shower, and eat some real food." Connie Paz said Anibal closed the letter on a bright note. “Don’t worry about me. I am doing what I love."
E-mail Derek Vital at dvital@heraldnews.com.
Ellie
By Derek Vital
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Aug 30, 2009 @ 10:09 PM
FALL RIVER —
The ordinary stresses of daily life simply don't compare to what Anibal Paz has dealt with.
On May 16, the Fall River native was deployed to Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, also known as America’s Battalion.
Sergeant Paz is on the front lines of the battle with Taliban insurgents. Washington Post reporter Ann Scott Tyson following Paz’s battalion during a recent firefight. The battalion killed three Taliban fighters in the confrontation.
“They thought it was just a little four-man team,” Paz said. “They didn’t know I had 16 men and I split them down the middle.”
Paz graduated from B.M.C. Durfee High School in 2001 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps later that year. His parents, Isabel and Fernando, along with three sisters and a brother, all live in Fall River.
After two tours in Iraq, Paz returned to Fall River in 2005, where he served as a recruiter for the Marines. The job allowed him to teach young men and women about the difference they could make by joining the military.
Paz married his wife Connie in 2006. They now live in Jacksonville, N.C., where he is stationed at Camp Lejeune. Paz is halfway through his current 210-day deployment. He said he plans to retire from the Marine Corps when his enlistment expires in 2013.
Connie Paz said her husband’s love of his country is his top priority.
“My husband puts everyone before himself,” said Connie Paz. “ Above all comes his country. He truly loves his job as a squad leader with Echo Company. I want everyone to realize what hard work and dedication goes into serving our country. The people of Fall River should be inspired that one of their very own is making history as one of 'the few, the proud.'”
Connie Paz said that her husband’s stay in Afghanistan has been extremely rough, even by Marine standards. Of their 59 days spent patrolling the desert, there have been 30 days of firefights. Temperatures are routinely in the triple digits, and the batallion went six weeks without being able to take a shower.
On the rare occasions Paz is allowed the call home, the conversations are brief. Letters sent home from Afghanistan do not arrive for several weeks.
A recent letter from Paz, dated Aug. 4, arrived in his wife’s mailbox more than three weeks later. In the handwritten note, Sgt. Paz chronicled the life of a Marine who is fighting for his life, his troops and his country nearly every second of every day.
“Not much to report from out here. Same story, 126 degrees in the shade, sandy, and idiots trying to kill me everyday. I can’t wait to get home, take shower, and eat some real food." Connie Paz said Anibal closed the letter on a bright note. “Don’t worry about me. I am doing what I love."
E-mail Derek Vital at dvital@heraldnews.com.
Ellie