thedrifter
10-10-05, 05:41 AM
Marine's patriotism inspired his friends
October 10, 2005
BY SHAWN WINDSOR
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Cpl. Nick Cherava's mother bought him an American flag for Christmas when he was 8. When he discovered his mom didn't get the largest size, she exchanged it and helped her son hang it from his bedroom ceiling.
"I've never forgotten that," recalled Sharon Cherava. "Here he was 8 years old, and he wanted a bigger flag. He was always patriotic."
And he always wanted to be a Marine.
Cherava, who grew up in Ontonagon and joined the Marines in 2003 after graduating from high school, was killed in Iraq on Thursday when the Humvee he was riding in rolled over a bomb. He was 21.
That he grew up wanting to serve in the Corps like his father had only complicated his mother's grief.
"My son signed up to defend his country, not Halliburton," Sharon Cherava said Sunday.
Halliburton is the multinational corporation awarded government contracts to rebuild infrastructure in Iraq.
She said her son began expressing unease about the mission when his first tour ended last year.
"He went over with an open mind the first time," she said. "But by this summer when he returned, he was worried."
Still, she said, "he told me: 'Even if I didn't want to go, this is what I was meant to do.' "
Childhood dream
From the time he hit elementary school, nearly everything in his bedroom was done in camouflage. He made exceptions for the U.S. flag on the ceiling and the Marine flag affixed over his headboard.
His dream was to do what his father had done. Thomas Cherava, whose parents were Albanian, served in the Marines in the late 1940s, also after high school.
He eventually went to college, worked as a civil engineer and saved enough money to buy a 240--acre cattle farm in Ontonagon.
Nick Cherava grew up on the farm, which was surrounded by woods, and when he wasn't doing chores or schoolwork, he disappeared into those woods, usually dressed in camouflage.
"I used to worry sick about him," Sharon Cherava said. "He'd be gone for hours, but he always found his way back."
In the back of her mind, she hoped he'd find his way back from Iraq, too. That he would use that internal compass he honed all those hours searching through the forest in the Upper Peninsula.
"He knew the woods inside and out," she said.
She told herself he knew the dry, sandy terrain as well.
Known as Chevy at school, his personality was so persuasive he convinced six other friends to join the Marines.
"Not too many people joined from around Ontonagon," said his 23-year-old sister, Cheryl Cherava, "but the recruiter in Marquette told us he changed that."
Proud of the Marines
During his first seven-month tour in Iraq, Nick Cherava didn't call or write home much. When the family back in the UP did hear from him, he painted a chaotic picture that put him in constant combat.
He returned to the states and his home early this summer before shipping off again. His sister drove him to the airport in Green Bay, Wis.
"He stressed to me that as Americans, we weren't welcome there anymore," Cheryl Cherava said.
But he remained proud of the brotherhood of the Marines, she said. He was also proud of his Albanian heritage, and wore an Albanian flag tattooed on his chest.
"He was good for morale," Cheryl Cherava said. "That's what his platoon leader told us when he called. Everyone looked to him."
He gets that quality from his mother. Though he looked liked his father -- who died five years ago of cancer -- he shared his mother's personality.
Last Friday, when Sharon Cherava pulled in her driveway after running errands, she passed a couple of local cop cars. She was confused until she reached the car closest to the farm's front door and saw two Marines.
"I got dizzy," Sharon Cherava said. "I almost fainted."
It was the image every soldier's mother dreads.
"I want my boy back," she said, her voice trembling.
Funeral details have yet to be determined.
Cherava is the 61st member of the U.S. armed forces with known Michigan ties to be killed in Iraq.
Contact SHAWN WINDSOR at 313-222-6487 or windsor@freepress.com.
Ellie
October 10, 2005
BY SHAWN WINDSOR
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Cpl. Nick Cherava's mother bought him an American flag for Christmas when he was 8. When he discovered his mom didn't get the largest size, she exchanged it and helped her son hang it from his bedroom ceiling.
"I've never forgotten that," recalled Sharon Cherava. "Here he was 8 years old, and he wanted a bigger flag. He was always patriotic."
And he always wanted to be a Marine.
Cherava, who grew up in Ontonagon and joined the Marines in 2003 after graduating from high school, was killed in Iraq on Thursday when the Humvee he was riding in rolled over a bomb. He was 21.
That he grew up wanting to serve in the Corps like his father had only complicated his mother's grief.
"My son signed up to defend his country, not Halliburton," Sharon Cherava said Sunday.
Halliburton is the multinational corporation awarded government contracts to rebuild infrastructure in Iraq.
She said her son began expressing unease about the mission when his first tour ended last year.
"He went over with an open mind the first time," she said. "But by this summer when he returned, he was worried."
Still, she said, "he told me: 'Even if I didn't want to go, this is what I was meant to do.' "
Childhood dream
From the time he hit elementary school, nearly everything in his bedroom was done in camouflage. He made exceptions for the U.S. flag on the ceiling and the Marine flag affixed over his headboard.
His dream was to do what his father had done. Thomas Cherava, whose parents were Albanian, served in the Marines in the late 1940s, also after high school.
He eventually went to college, worked as a civil engineer and saved enough money to buy a 240--acre cattle farm in Ontonagon.
Nick Cherava grew up on the farm, which was surrounded by woods, and when he wasn't doing chores or schoolwork, he disappeared into those woods, usually dressed in camouflage.
"I used to worry sick about him," Sharon Cherava said. "He'd be gone for hours, but he always found his way back."
In the back of her mind, she hoped he'd find his way back from Iraq, too. That he would use that internal compass he honed all those hours searching through the forest in the Upper Peninsula.
"He knew the woods inside and out," she said.
She told herself he knew the dry, sandy terrain as well.
Known as Chevy at school, his personality was so persuasive he convinced six other friends to join the Marines.
"Not too many people joined from around Ontonagon," said his 23-year-old sister, Cheryl Cherava, "but the recruiter in Marquette told us he changed that."
Proud of the Marines
During his first seven-month tour in Iraq, Nick Cherava didn't call or write home much. When the family back in the UP did hear from him, he painted a chaotic picture that put him in constant combat.
He returned to the states and his home early this summer before shipping off again. His sister drove him to the airport in Green Bay, Wis.
"He stressed to me that as Americans, we weren't welcome there anymore," Cheryl Cherava said.
But he remained proud of the brotherhood of the Marines, she said. He was also proud of his Albanian heritage, and wore an Albanian flag tattooed on his chest.
"He was good for morale," Cheryl Cherava said. "That's what his platoon leader told us when he called. Everyone looked to him."
He gets that quality from his mother. Though he looked liked his father -- who died five years ago of cancer -- he shared his mother's personality.
Last Friday, when Sharon Cherava pulled in her driveway after running errands, she passed a couple of local cop cars. She was confused until she reached the car closest to the farm's front door and saw two Marines.
"I got dizzy," Sharon Cherava said. "I almost fainted."
It was the image every soldier's mother dreads.
"I want my boy back," she said, her voice trembling.
Funeral details have yet to be determined.
Cherava is the 61st member of the U.S. armed forces with known Michigan ties to be killed in Iraq.
Contact SHAWN WINDSOR at 313-222-6487 or windsor@freepress.com.
Ellie