Article published Dec 23, 2007
Family holds Marine near

By SHANNON MURPHY
Times Herald

While many in U.S. Marine Sgt. David Smith III's family have gotten used to his deployments with the Marine Corps., they still get anxious.

They still jump every time the phone rings, just in case he's calling.

When his mother, Theresa Warshefski, watches news about what's going on in Iraq, she double checks to make sure none of the violence is near her son.

And anyone who calls Warshefski's home and gets the answering machine knows how much the family cares - the message is directed to Smith in case the family isn't home when he calls and tells him the family loves and misses him and he's rewarded with recorded kisses.


Smith, 22, of Port Huron is on his fourth deployment since joining the Marines four years ago. Currently, he's guarding a jail and patrolling outside of Arimadi in Iraq. Smith is a squad leader with Company C, 1Marine Regiment, based out of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

When he first joined the Marines right after high school, Smith was first deployed to Haiti in 2004 to assist after severe flooding and mudslides.

"Haiti was my first experience (having Smith gone)," Warshefski said. "And it was kind of hard. He would call and I'd hear gunfire in the background.

His second mission was in Fallujah, Iraq.

"We got there in time for operation Al Fajr," Smith said in a recent interview with the Marine Corps News. "The Battle of Fallujah was a long awaited one, and it was more intense than I ever would have thought. But, I can say that I have experienced true war and really learned the importance of relying on the man to your right and left."

Smith's third mission was to help evacuate nearly 15,000 U.S. citizens from Lebanon in August 2006.

He left for his second tour in Iraq, and fourth deployment, in September and is expected home in March.

His mother said Smith plans on joining a non-deployment unit and going to school in California when he returns. He also plans on spending more time with his fiancee, Michelle Marion.

While his family will miss him during Smith's first Christmas away from home, they said they are proud of him and not surprised he's serving his country.

"Sept. 11 had a lot to do with it for David," Warshefski said. "We'd watch people on TV crying and the whole thing made him really angry. Plus, he had Marine posters in his room since he was 14."

Ellie