Posted January 22, 2006
Marine gathers 'victory cigars' for platoons
Green Bay Press-Gazette

Smokes help troops bond after battle, Menasha man says

By Steve Wideman
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

MENASHA — Three days after seeing his best friend slain by a sniper's bullet, U.S. Marine Cpl. Benjamin Czap and 150 other Marines left Fallujah, Iraq, after 25 days of fighting.

The Marines gathered around a large fire as cases of cigars were passed around to the weary soldiers, including Czap, who had never smoked a cigar.

"It's pretty much a military tradition that when you get back from a battle you smoke a cigar," said Czap, who has been honorably discharged from the Marines and now lives in Menasha.

"We pulled out of Fallujah after nearly a month of fighting and with no showers and very little sleep. We lost 17 of my friends who were killed. We were all pretty well shell-shocked," Czap said. "That was the first cigar I had. It was almost a moving experience. It took me away from everything. It made me feel like I was home. I don't know why. It just did."

Czap wants to make sure fellow Marines still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have a chance to partake in what he calls "victory cigars."

Czap and a co-worker at Stowe-Woodward in Neenah are asking Fox Cities residents to donate cigars for shipment to frontline Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cigars are being collected at ******on Souvenir & Cigar Co., 415 W. College Ave.

"At my expense, the cigars will be sent to Marine infantry and only to battalions engaged in fighting. We will be sending cigars to two units in Iraq and two units in Afghanistan," said Czap, who spent 16 months in Iraq over two tours of duty from 2003 to 2005.

"The cigars represent victory. Every day these guys wake up is a victory to them," Czap said.

Brandon Salfai of ******on, Czap's co-worker, got the idea to send cigars to soldiers after seeing anti-war protesters on College Avenue.

"One of the protesters, probably from the Vietnam War era, was carrying a sign that said 'Bring our boys home now,'" Salfai said. "Benjamin had talked of smoking cigars with his buddies in Iraq. You think of Marines chewing on nails and spitting out tacks, but they are people. Many are just kids."

Salfai thought sending cigars to the soldiers would be a show of support.

"I thought 'Let's get back to the basics. They (U.S. Marines) are our boys,'" Salfai said.

Discussions between Salfai and Czap developed the idea of collecting cigars through the ******on cigar store.

"A lot of people can't understand this, but when you are in the military you have a compassion toward your brethren for which there is no comparison," Czap said. "There is no grieving in the military when you lose a friend. When we came out of Fallujah, we were all sitting around the fire talking about our experience with our buddies who were killed and smoking cigars to honor them. It brought us all together and almost made us stronger.

"To some people it may just be a cigar, not to us, it meant much more," Czap said. "I just want to let them (soldiers) know that the American public still values and honors them and the public is taking the time out of their busy day to do something for them, to say 'Here. Here is your victory cigar because you guys are heroes in our book.'"

Czap said he will send cigars in platoon-sized shipments of 30 cigars.

"There are 36 guys in a platoon, but you can throw out all the command. They don't need them. They can buy their own," Czap said.

— Steve Wideman writes for The Post-Crescent of ******on

Ellie