thedrifter
05-14-07, 08:20 AM
Marine returns
Family celebrates leatherneck’s homecoming
May 14, 2007
By LARRY SINGER
Index-Journal staff writer
Shortly before the traditional Mother’s Day dinner was served, Marine Lance Cpl. Charles Falls, 19, stretched out on a white plastic lawn chair on the front yard of his home in Greenwood and examined a massive red banner placed there by his family to let him know how much they love him and how thankful they are that Falls made it back safely from the war in Iraq.
When Falls’ mother, Vicki Richard, first discovered her son had received orders to go to Iraq, her reaction was predictable.
“I said, ‘Oh my God,’” Richard said. “I was nervous. I was upset. I was proud, but I was scared, too.”
Fortunately, her son was able to maintain contact with his mother while he was maintaining helicopters at an airfield in Baghdad.
“He kept in contact with me as much as possible through telephone calls,” Richard said. “He got to call about once a week. I stayed by the phone every chance I had.”
When Richard heard her son was coming home, she said she let out a sigh of relief.
“I was overjoyed,” she said. “Having him home for Mother’s Day is the best Mother’s Day present ever.”
The biggest thrill came, however, when Falls’ family met him at the Greenville airport.
Ironically, his mother said, it was Falls’ 12-year old sister, Kristin, who won the race to get to her brother and welcome him home.
“I couldn’t get to him before his sister,” Richard said. “She got to him first.”
Unlike many of the reservist who are currently doing their second or third tour of duty in Iraq, Falls has an active-duty Marine since August of 2005.
“This was my first trip to Iraq,” Falls said. “But I’ll probably be sent back.”
One of the reasons he joined the Marines, Falls said, was for the training and the job he knew he’d be doing during his enlistment.
“I’m an aircraft hydraulics mechanic,” Falls said, “I work on helicopters. I’ve always been interested in aircraft, and stuff like that.”
The experiences of his peers, he explained, also played a role in his decision to join up.
“A couple of my friends had joined different branches of the military, and I talked to them about it,” he said. “I actually went and talked to an Air Force recruiter first, but eventually I decided if you’re going to be a bear, you might as well be a grizzly and be a Marine.”
Even though he was all-too-aware of the situation in the middle east,and new Iraq would one day probably be in his future, Falls said that when he learned he was going to the desert, it was still somewhat disquieting.
“I knew it was going to happen, so it wasn’t that much of a shock,” Falls said. “I just didn’t know when. Even though I knew it was coming, when I first got the news and someone tells you you’re going to Iraq, you think wow, I don’t believe this.”
When asked by one of the guests at his home how he felt being home with his family for Mother’s Day, the emotions Fall’s expressed were almost identical to his mother’s about having him here.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “Especially on Mother’s Day. Just being home from a place like that would make anyone ecstatic. If they’re not happy, they’re crazy.”
Ellie
Family celebrates leatherneck’s homecoming
May 14, 2007
By LARRY SINGER
Index-Journal staff writer
Shortly before the traditional Mother’s Day dinner was served, Marine Lance Cpl. Charles Falls, 19, stretched out on a white plastic lawn chair on the front yard of his home in Greenwood and examined a massive red banner placed there by his family to let him know how much they love him and how thankful they are that Falls made it back safely from the war in Iraq.
When Falls’ mother, Vicki Richard, first discovered her son had received orders to go to Iraq, her reaction was predictable.
“I said, ‘Oh my God,’” Richard said. “I was nervous. I was upset. I was proud, but I was scared, too.”
Fortunately, her son was able to maintain contact with his mother while he was maintaining helicopters at an airfield in Baghdad.
“He kept in contact with me as much as possible through telephone calls,” Richard said. “He got to call about once a week. I stayed by the phone every chance I had.”
When Richard heard her son was coming home, she said she let out a sigh of relief.
“I was overjoyed,” she said. “Having him home for Mother’s Day is the best Mother’s Day present ever.”
The biggest thrill came, however, when Falls’ family met him at the Greenville airport.
Ironically, his mother said, it was Falls’ 12-year old sister, Kristin, who won the race to get to her brother and welcome him home.
“I couldn’t get to him before his sister,” Richard said. “She got to him first.”
Unlike many of the reservist who are currently doing their second or third tour of duty in Iraq, Falls has an active-duty Marine since August of 2005.
“This was my first trip to Iraq,” Falls said. “But I’ll probably be sent back.”
One of the reasons he joined the Marines, Falls said, was for the training and the job he knew he’d be doing during his enlistment.
“I’m an aircraft hydraulics mechanic,” Falls said, “I work on helicopters. I’ve always been interested in aircraft, and stuff like that.”
The experiences of his peers, he explained, also played a role in his decision to join up.
“A couple of my friends had joined different branches of the military, and I talked to them about it,” he said. “I actually went and talked to an Air Force recruiter first, but eventually I decided if you’re going to be a bear, you might as well be a grizzly and be a Marine.”
Even though he was all-too-aware of the situation in the middle east,and new Iraq would one day probably be in his future, Falls said that when he learned he was going to the desert, it was still somewhat disquieting.
“I knew it was going to happen, so it wasn’t that much of a shock,” Falls said. “I just didn’t know when. Even though I knew it was coming, when I first got the news and someone tells you you’re going to Iraq, you think wow, I don’t believe this.”
When asked by one of the guests at his home how he felt being home with his family for Mother’s Day, the emotions Fall’s expressed were almost identical to his mother’s about having him here.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “Especially on Mother’s Day. Just being home from a place like that would make anyone ecstatic. If they’re not happy, they’re crazy.”
Ellie