Camp Pendleton troops leave for Iraq

[thedrifter]

Camp Pendleton troops leave for Iraq

By: MARK WALKER --Staff Writer
'My goal is that we come back with everybody' one Marine says

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Master Sgt. Gary Glenz returned from a seven-month assignment in Iraq in October. On Thursday, he climbed aboard a bus at Camp Pendleton for the first leg of a trip that will find him back in Iraq for the next year as head of a 41-member transport platoon.

"My goal is that we come back with everybody that we go over with," said the Marine from Castle Rock, Wash. "We expect to do some good things and make sure that everyone who leaves here today comes home safe."

Glenz had no complaints about his short time home before having to go back to Iraq, as the U.S. nears the beginning of its sixth year in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.


Glenz was among nearly 200 Marines and sailors from the base's Regimental Combat Team 5 heading to Iraq, part of a wave of an estimated 11,000 local troops that are replacing the North Carolina-based II Marine Expeditionary Force in the formerly volatile Anbar province.

The troops mingled at the base's Camp San Mateo near San Clemente with family members and friends before boarding five buses at nightfall for a drive to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. Once there, they climbed aboard a plane and took off for the Middle East.

Before leaving, however, many heard their names called out and assigned a last-minute task ---- getting anthrax and smallpox vaccinations.

Gunnery Sgt. Lorenzo Giacomini of Fallbrook had all his shots and used his final minutes to hug and kiss his wife, Nicole, and the couple's only child, Isabella.

Nicole Giacomini said the family was blessed because her husband, heading to Iraq for his second assignment, was home throughout 2007 and was able to help her during her and pregnancy and the birth of their daughter.

An intelligence specialist, Giacomini said he believes the Marines will be able to maintain the improved security in Anbar that began in late 2006 and continued last year.

Cooperation between Sunni tribesmen that dominate the Anbar population and U.S. forces had led to a stability once thought unachievable in the sprawling region along the Euphrates River and Jordanian border.

"We're ready to get back there and continue what we've been able to gain," Giacomini said. "We've got some good ideas to keep the progress that's been made in place and improve on it."

The departing troops included many junior Marines heading to Iraq for the first time, including 22-year-old Lance Cpl. Nick Garner of Puyallup, Wash.

A mechanic, Garner stood stoically as his girlfriend, Kayle, parents and brother stood in a circle around him sharing some final moments together.

"It's going to be a learning experience," Garner said, his M-16 rifle slung over a shoulder of his desert fatigues. "I'm just hoping to be able to do some good over there."

Mom said she was apprehensive.

"I have mixed feelings," she said. "I'm not necessarily a proponent of the war, and I have some trepidations, but we believe in Nick and we're very proud of him."

The troops are taking lighter flak jackets and helmets, and will find better armored vehicles when they arrive in Iraq, compared with what were in use during and after the invasion. They also will have new mental health teams available to help prevent and treat combat stress.

The mental health teams are intended to make certain that troops have access to psychological services to head off troubles that might otherwise fester and lead to full-blown cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Feeling a little predeployment stress Thursday was Cpl. Michael Abernethy, who used his time before getting on the bus to make several cell phone calls to family and his girlfriend back home in Georgia.

Abernethy was among the troops heading to Iraq for the first time, a place he thought he would never have to serve. He said he got out of the Marine Corps several years ago and was working an accountant in Macon when he was called back to active duty.

"I'm a little nervous, but I'm ready to go and get it over with so I can get back and go back to my job," he said, adding: "Let's just say going to Iraq wasn't my first choice in life."

During his final telephone call, Abernethy said, his girlfriend wanted to make sure he knew how much she loved him. After hanging up, it was time for Abernethy to begin the nearly 10,000-mile journey to the war zone that will be his home for the next 12 months.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Camp Pendleton unit leaves for Iraq
175 Marines and sailors from Regimental Combat Team 5 headquarters unit departed Thursday.
By VIK JOLLY

CAMP PENDLETON - Elisha won't remember that daddy bottle-fed him when he was 7 months old. Daddy likely will never forget.

As evening approached Thursday, Marine Sgt. Michael Mosher balanced his 18-pound boy on one arm and let Elisha drink from the tiny bottle in his other hand.

The next time Elisha lays his hazel eyes on his father in person may be a year away. And by then the brownish-blond-haired baby likely won't be drinking from a bottle.

Mosher, 27, left with the tender memories of the moment as he joined about 175 Marines and sailors from the Regimental Combat Team 5 headquarters unit here to leave for Iraq on Thursday night. About 24 hours later, Mosher will be in the Al Anbar province of western Iraq for his third tour since the war began.

He will miss his son's first steps. He will miss the first words Elisha utters. And he will miss the infant's first birthday June 12.

"The Lord's blessed me with a great family. And they're supportive, and I know they'll be there when I get home," said Mosher, who was in the Reserve for about two years when he was activated last summer. "Can't ask for anything more than that."

The activation surprised Mosher, who had served four years in the Marines, was working at his brother-in-law's landscaping business in Searcy, Ark., and had started a family. He did not re-enlist but had elected to stay in the "inactive reserves."

Mosher took his return to duty in stride. "I knew there was a possibility. … I didn't know very many people that got called back until recently," Mosher said.

Alison Mosher, 20, has never been separated from her husband in the two years the couple have been married.

"It's going to be very difficult for me," she said. "I wasn't with him when he deployed the other two times, so I don't know what to expect. … I was very grateful that he was home for the birth and he got to be there for the first few months of Elisha's life."

As day melted into night and bus engines purred nearby at Camp San Mateo, home of the 5th Marine Regiment, couples shared long hugs and even longer kisses.

All 13 of Sgt. Juan Mendez's relatives, who had come from Gardena and Temecula, huddled close as he bid his final goodbye before he was called for roll call.

Maria Heredia, 68, bundled up with knitted gloves and cap to say goodbye to her grandson for the third time. The immigrant from Colima state in Mexico said she wouldn't have missed sending off her career Marine for anything.

"I want to see him leave," she said in Spanish, as a tear made its way down her right cheek from behind her glasses and dropped on her jacket. "I want to give him my blessing, and I want to see him go off on the bus."

Nearby, Capt. Chris Donnelly hugged his son Austin, 10, who buried his face in his father's chest and wept. While he was home for about 10 months, Donnelly coached his son and 7-year-old daughter Mia's sports teams.

"I told him I've got a job that I've got to do. Just that he's going to be the man around the house, and take care of mom and his sister, and help out as much as possible, and before he knows it, I'll be on my way back," said Donnelly, 31, also on his third deployment to the war zone.

Donnelly hopes the trend of ebbing violence in Iraq in the latter half of last year continues.

"It's always a good thing to go in there when you see the change that's taking place … so that the people in Iraq can establish their own country," he said.

Lance Cpl. Whitney Wolff, 20 years old and five months pregnant, was just getting in her car to leave when she got an unexpected text message from her boyfriend, Cpl. Brian Goff, 21, who had just gotten on the bus for his second tour of Iraq.

"I love you. I can't wait to see you until I come home," the message said.

It was time for the buses to leave. As they roared off, Alison Mosher waved goodbye to Michael from across the street. Elisha was in a deep slumber against her mother's chest.


Contact the writer: 949-465-5424 or vjolly@ocregister.com

Ellie