Shaffer
03-13-03, 08:26 AM
Families wept and waved goodbye as members of a Marine Corps unit of reservists called to active duty moved out from their reserve station at Picatinny Arsenal on Wednesday.
Several wives and daughters who had already said goodbye rushed to give last-minute hugs as the reservists filed onto five buses for a 12-hour ride to Camp Lejeune, N.C., and possibly Iraq.
Judi McCartney, 47, of Rahway, could barely pull herself away from her 23-year-old son, Sgt. Alan McCartney, as he boarded the bus.
"He is my first born," she said. "He is well trained to do what he's going to do, but he's my son."
Sgt. McCartney was among the 221 Marines and seven Navy Corpsmen from G Company 2nd Battalion 25th Marine Regiment, who will train for possible deployment to the Persian Gulf.
Earlier Wednesday, the men, sporting crewcuts and wearing combat fatigues, loaded supplies onto tractor-trailers and mulled about the base with relatives during "family day," when troops visit with relatives in the hours before they move out.
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Several wives and daughters who had already said goodbye rushed to give last-minute hugs as the reservists filed onto five buses for a 12-hour ride to Camp Lejeune, N.C., and possibly Iraq.
Judi McCartney, 47, of Rahway, could barely pull herself away from her 23-year-old son, Sgt. Alan McCartney, as he boarded the bus.
"He is my first born," she said. "He is well trained to do what he's going to do, but he's my son."
Sgt. McCartney was among the 221 Marines and seven Navy Corpsmen from G Company 2nd Battalion 25th Marine Regiment, who will train for possible deployment to the Persian Gulf.
Earlier Wednesday, the men, sporting crewcuts and wearing combat fatigues, loaded supplies onto tractor-trailers and mulled about the base with relatives during "family day," when troops visit with relatives in the hours before they move out.
http://www.newsday.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=ny%2Dbc%2Dnj%2D%2Dpicatinnymar ines0312mar12§ion=%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fwire