thedrifter
06-25-07, 05:44 AM
Marine stops home to see family
By Nancy Gier
ngier@dailyherald.com
Posted Monday, June 25, 2007
Lance Cpl. Wes Farber sits on a glider on the wrap-around front porch of his mother’s home in St. Charles, recalling life in the Marines, including five months in Iraq.
With the streaming yellow ribbons and welcoming banners, the home with the ginger bread trim looks like a setting from James Cagney’s film “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
That’s fine with Farber, a 21-year-old graduate of St. Charles East High School. The military has been good to him.
“It’s hard to explain, but the Marines are like a family,” he said. “We’re a bunch of brothers. I can fight with them, but it doesn’t mean anything. We’re together all the time. It’s like I have family there, and I have family here.”
Farber arrived home June 16 for a month’s leave, and will return to Camp Pendleton in California.
He has been in the Marines nearly three years and his experience could rival that of a sailor. Farber spent months aboard the U.S.S. Boxer, which he described as a “mini aircraft carrier.”
“It was basically my mode of transportation,” said Farber. “The Marines work side by side with the Navy. There wasn’t much to do on board. I watched a lot of movies.”
Farber left Iraq in April and made stops in Australia and Hawaii before arriving in California on May 30. He has also been to Singapore and India.
Seeing the world is a definite advantage to being in the Marines, he said, even if it means a stint in Iraq. What was scheduled to be one month in Iraq turned into five months, a military decision.
“I definitely believe in what we’re doing there,” he said. “I worked with an infantry unit in Haditha and we searched houses that we suspected had caches of arms.
“We also just wanted to meet the people and ask how we could make things better,” Farber said. “We had interpreters. There were a lot of farmers, and one of the things we did was build a pen for their livestock.
“I think the majority of the people want us there,” he said. “Ideally, we want to establish the government so we can pull out. But it’s so hard to maintain the peace.”
Farber said that returning to Iraq is always possible.
He chose the military over college during his senior year. He had no career in mind and thought tuition might be a waste of money. If higher education is in his future, the funding for college will be there for him as a veteran.
He is considering other options, including re-enlisting for another four years and taking advantage of signing bonuses worth up to $80,000.
For now, he is visiting friends and just “hanging out.”
“It’s a relief to be home,” he said. “I saw a lot of protesters in California, but I’ve had a warm welcome here. It’s good to have family and friends waiting for you.”
Ellie
By Nancy Gier
ngier@dailyherald.com
Posted Monday, June 25, 2007
Lance Cpl. Wes Farber sits on a glider on the wrap-around front porch of his mother’s home in St. Charles, recalling life in the Marines, including five months in Iraq.
With the streaming yellow ribbons and welcoming banners, the home with the ginger bread trim looks like a setting from James Cagney’s film “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
That’s fine with Farber, a 21-year-old graduate of St. Charles East High School. The military has been good to him.
“It’s hard to explain, but the Marines are like a family,” he said. “We’re a bunch of brothers. I can fight with them, but it doesn’t mean anything. We’re together all the time. It’s like I have family there, and I have family here.”
Farber arrived home June 16 for a month’s leave, and will return to Camp Pendleton in California.
He has been in the Marines nearly three years and his experience could rival that of a sailor. Farber spent months aboard the U.S.S. Boxer, which he described as a “mini aircraft carrier.”
“It was basically my mode of transportation,” said Farber. “The Marines work side by side with the Navy. There wasn’t much to do on board. I watched a lot of movies.”
Farber left Iraq in April and made stops in Australia and Hawaii before arriving in California on May 30. He has also been to Singapore and India.
Seeing the world is a definite advantage to being in the Marines, he said, even if it means a stint in Iraq. What was scheduled to be one month in Iraq turned into five months, a military decision.
“I definitely believe in what we’re doing there,” he said. “I worked with an infantry unit in Haditha and we searched houses that we suspected had caches of arms.
“We also just wanted to meet the people and ask how we could make things better,” Farber said. “We had interpreters. There were a lot of farmers, and one of the things we did was build a pen for their livestock.
“I think the majority of the people want us there,” he said. “Ideally, we want to establish the government so we can pull out. But it’s so hard to maintain the peace.”
Farber said that returning to Iraq is always possible.
He chose the military over college during his senior year. He had no career in mind and thought tuition might be a waste of money. If higher education is in his future, the funding for college will be there for him as a veteran.
He is considering other options, including re-enlisting for another four years and taking advantage of signing bonuses worth up to $80,000.
For now, he is visiting friends and just “hanging out.”
“It’s a relief to be home,” he said. “I saw a lot of protesters in California, but I’ve had a warm welcome here. It’s good to have family and friends waiting for you.”
Ellie