10/08/2007
American Legion honors local Marines recently returned from Iraq
By PAUL S. MARTINEZ , The Enterprise

BEAUMONT - The American Legion Post 33 recognized four Marines on Sunday who returned home after service in Iraq.

Dustin Chaney, 24, Steven Gaudet, 23, Dusty Trahan, 23, and Sgt. Maj. Scott Boyer were honored at the American Legion's headquarters with a barbeque lunch, certificates and a monetary reward.

Chaney, a 2001 Lumberton High School, joined the U.S. Marine Corp shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"I was mad, and I wanted to do something for the men and women who died in the attacks," Chaney said. "I thought (joining the Marines) was something I could do."

In 4 ½ years, Chaney rose to rank of corporal and has served two tours in Iraq and one in Kuwait.

His duties in Iraq included searching a few of Saddam Hussein's palaces.

He described them as "gorgeous" and was amazed by all the marble and gold used to construct the palaces.

Chaney married Beaumont native Amanda Chaney early in his military career and said leaving his family behind was the hardest part of his enlistment.

He missed the birth of his first daughter, 18-month-old Brailee, by eight days because of deployment. He had a second daughter, Kenzlee, two months ago.

Chaney plans to enroll in the Emergency Medical Technician program at the Lamar Institute of Technology and hopes to become a firefighter.

Gaudet, a 2002 West Brook High School graduate, had wanted to join the military since he was a child and he also needed the money for college.

Gaudet, who attained the rank of corporal in his five-year military career, served one tour in Iraq and a domestic tour on the War on Terror.

Trained as a Russian linguist, Gaudet spent a good deal of time either driving a Humvee or shooting a machine gun attached to the military vehicle.

The enduring images of Iraq that he will keep are of the children he saw. He said the Iraqi children were happy when the U.S. convoys rolled in and were sad when they left.

But at some level, he said he knows the U.S. forces made a positive difference in the lives of those children.

Gaudet missed his family and friends from Southeast Texas, "but not the mosquitoes."

For the future, he knows he will go to college, but has several different interests.

He may use his military training do something in linguistics.

In addition to Russian, he grew up speaking Hungarian with his grandfather, and he studied Spanish and French in school. Gaudet also has an interest in acting, comedy and the culinary arts.

Trahan, a 2001 West Brook graduate, joined the Marines straight out of high school at the age of 17.

His father served in the Marines and joining the military was something he had always planned on, Trahan said.

He served three tours in Iraq and was part of the initial push into Baghdad in March of 2003.

He served in a support capacity with the unit that flew the drone aircraft, which scouted behind enemy lines.

The most enduring memories of his time overseas include the Iraqis he was able to help.

Iraqis would frequently approach U.S. soldiers, seeking medical attention, he said.

Trahan said he greatly missed television during his time in Iraq. When he first got back to the U.S., he said he spent an entire day at the hotel watching TV, catching up on what was going on in the world.

"It's always the things you don't think about that you miss the most," he said.

He said his time as an active duty soldier was "well worth it" and he would do it all the same if he had to do it again.

Trahan is currently studying web design at LIT. He also joined the Marine reserves when his active duty enlistment ended.

He is attached to the reserve unit in Houston with his godfather, Sgt. Maj. Boyer.

Boyer, a California native, is still on active duty and works with the reserve unit in Houston.

Boyer was the first sergeant of the U.S. Marine Corp's India Company during the First Battle of Fallujah in April of 2004.

India Company was featured in a Fox News special report entitled "The Heroes of India Company," which documented the month-long long battle to clear the city of insurgents.

paulsmartinez@beaumontenterprise.com
(409) 880-0737





Ellie