thedrifter
05-01-07, 09:02 AM
Slain Marine's family welcomes home his comrades
Monday, April 30, 2007
By Clint Confehr
NASHVILLE -- Relatives of the slain Marine buried in Bedford County welcomed their son's comrades home from Iraq on Saturday when they lit candles and others shot fireworks.
"This is what we came for," Henry Golczynski of Murfreesboro said as 68 Marines were welcomed as heroes after serving with his son, Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, 30, who was buried in Wheel Cemetery on April 4.
"We saw them off and we saw them come home safe," said Golczynski, owner of Franklin's Printworks, the business he's developed in Murfreesboro after raising two boys in Lewisburg.
Tears welled up in Pam Hawley of Henderson County while waiting for her 22-year-old son, Doug, when told one of his best friends volunteered for a second tour in Iraq to keep young Marines safe.
"He thought the world of Sgt. Ski," Hawley said, and her son confirmed it about an hour later, substantiating the Golczynski family's explanation on why their Marine returned to Iraq.
"That's exactly what he did," Lance Cpl. Doug Hawley said of his lost comrade. "I will definitely go back. Ski was a mentor to me. If there's one thing I can do to honor him, it's to go back and keep Marines safe."
The staff sergeant's mother, Elaine Huffines, teaches science at Forrest High School in Chapel Hill.
"Marc was transferred to another platoon ... so he didn't serve right with these guys," Huffines said as Staff Sgt. Matt Doak of Shelbyville brought remembrance bracelets to the Golczynski and Huffines families.
Among the 68 who returned to Nashville on Saturday was Sgt. Robert Schultz. On the day Golczynski died, Schultz had taken Iraqis on patrol while his friend was setting up a road block to provide security for Iraqi police, Schultz said.
Lance Cpl. Brandon Elkins, 23, of Cheatham County said he believed Golczynski's efforts to monitor the security of Marines like himself cost Golczynski his life.
"I don't think there was anybody who didn't like him," Elkins said of Golczynski.
The homecoming for the 68 Marines was "bittersweet," said Heather Golczynski, mother of Marc Golczynski's son, Christian, 8. A scholarship fund is being established for the boy.
Golczynski quoted his son as saying, "'Dad, this is what we do.' If he could do it again, I'd support him."
Ellie
Monday, April 30, 2007
By Clint Confehr
NASHVILLE -- Relatives of the slain Marine buried in Bedford County welcomed their son's comrades home from Iraq on Saturday when they lit candles and others shot fireworks.
"This is what we came for," Henry Golczynski of Murfreesboro said as 68 Marines were welcomed as heroes after serving with his son, Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, 30, who was buried in Wheel Cemetery on April 4.
"We saw them off and we saw them come home safe," said Golczynski, owner of Franklin's Printworks, the business he's developed in Murfreesboro after raising two boys in Lewisburg.
Tears welled up in Pam Hawley of Henderson County while waiting for her 22-year-old son, Doug, when told one of his best friends volunteered for a second tour in Iraq to keep young Marines safe.
"He thought the world of Sgt. Ski," Hawley said, and her son confirmed it about an hour later, substantiating the Golczynski family's explanation on why their Marine returned to Iraq.
"That's exactly what he did," Lance Cpl. Doug Hawley said of his lost comrade. "I will definitely go back. Ski was a mentor to me. If there's one thing I can do to honor him, it's to go back and keep Marines safe."
The staff sergeant's mother, Elaine Huffines, teaches science at Forrest High School in Chapel Hill.
"Marc was transferred to another platoon ... so he didn't serve right with these guys," Huffines said as Staff Sgt. Matt Doak of Shelbyville brought remembrance bracelets to the Golczynski and Huffines families.
Among the 68 who returned to Nashville on Saturday was Sgt. Robert Schultz. On the day Golczynski died, Schultz had taken Iraqis on patrol while his friend was setting up a road block to provide security for Iraqi police, Schultz said.
Lance Cpl. Brandon Elkins, 23, of Cheatham County said he believed Golczynski's efforts to monitor the security of Marines like himself cost Golczynski his life.
"I don't think there was anybody who didn't like him," Elkins said of Golczynski.
The homecoming for the 68 Marines was "bittersweet," said Heather Golczynski, mother of Marc Golczynski's son, Christian, 8. A scholarship fund is being established for the boy.
Golczynski quoted his son as saying, "'Dad, this is what we do.' If he could do it again, I'd support him."
Ellie