thedrifter
10-12-07, 07:27 AM
Carlson: Iraq, as one young Marine knows it
By JOHN CARLSON
REGISTER COLUMNIST
October 12, 2007
Cpl. Cody Wanken was in Fallujah with some time to kill, so he started writing.
"A young man, a young Marine, a younger brother, a baby to his mother and father," the 19-year-old Marine from Hampton began. "A man not feared by struggle but scared to fail. A man wanting to follow in his father's footsteps and not scared to take any risks. Now the time has come. ..."
His letter to himself, and eventually to his parents back in Iowa, is titled "WAR."
"Many things go through his head," Wanken wrote of the young Marine. Of himself. "Is he prepared or just complacent? Did he gaff things off or is he ready? He can't sleep, he can't eat, he throws up, he cries for Jesus. He can't understand what is war. He looks at kids in the eyes, he looks at women in the eyes and can read them and ask(s) himself why are people scared of this machine."
His parents, Rick and Sue Wanken of Hampton, read the first few paragraphs of what their son had written and knew it was something special. And powerful. Even disturbing.
They finished reading and decided their son's words should be shared with his friends and neighbors. His letter was published Sept. 19 in the Hampton Chronicle, with an invitation for people to write to Wanken in Iraq.
It continues:
"This young man, this young Marine, looks at his brothers in the eyes like a man and can feel the same fear as it boils off of him. His feet burn from the sand, his body aches from the patrolling, his head hurts from being on his 'A' game, his eyes are heavy from the lack of sleep. But this machine will not let down one minute.
"They say war isn't a game - or is it? People watch TV. People play video games and want it. But they don't know what nightmares are, what bodies smell like.
"Is it a cry for help? NO! A Marine will adapt and overcome anything that he passes through life. As war goes on, as men die, as men cry, as Marines grow, no matter what at the end of the day, at the end of the raid he shall CRY HAVOC. Just because he is worn out doesn't mean he's tired. He shall be prepared for the next day. He will never stop until the job is done and will keep moving for his family and friends, because some day he will see them again."
Nine days after his words appeared in the Hampton newspaper, the young Marine, a 2006 graduate of Hampton-Dumont High School, was seriously wounded, suffering eye, ear and other facial injuries.
"I got through it," he said Wednesday in a telephone interview from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. "I'm going to be OK."
The words he wrote in Fallujah?
"I was sitting on post one night and it just came into my head," Wanken said. "I started writing. I have a bunch of stuff I've written. This one, I guess I want people to realize war isn't fun and games."
It was 24 hours after his surgery. His jaw was wired shut and he was speaking through clenched teeth. He said he wasn't comfortable discussing details of how his injury occurred, because of security reasons.
He just wants his friends to know he'll be home, in Hampton, in a week or so, and expects to be recuperating there for about a month.
"I haven't been home in a while," he said. "I just want to get back to Iowa and hang out with my family."
After that ...
Well, Wanken had completed three months of his unit's seven-month deployment when he was wounded.
"I want to go back to Iraq when I'm well," he said. "I want to be with my Marines."
His parents understand.
"I'm proud of him," said his mother, who with her husband is with Wanken at Bethesda. "I'm proud of all of them in Iraq, and will be until they're all home. I'm proud of what he wrote, too."
It's 320 words from a thoughtful young Marine in the middle of a war. No spin. No politics. Just reality.
He hopes it makes people understand.
Columnist John Carlson can be reached at (515) 284-8204 or jcarlson@dmreg.com
Ellie
By JOHN CARLSON
REGISTER COLUMNIST
October 12, 2007
Cpl. Cody Wanken was in Fallujah with some time to kill, so he started writing.
"A young man, a young Marine, a younger brother, a baby to his mother and father," the 19-year-old Marine from Hampton began. "A man not feared by struggle but scared to fail. A man wanting to follow in his father's footsteps and not scared to take any risks. Now the time has come. ..."
His letter to himself, and eventually to his parents back in Iowa, is titled "WAR."
"Many things go through his head," Wanken wrote of the young Marine. Of himself. "Is he prepared or just complacent? Did he gaff things off or is he ready? He can't sleep, he can't eat, he throws up, he cries for Jesus. He can't understand what is war. He looks at kids in the eyes, he looks at women in the eyes and can read them and ask(s) himself why are people scared of this machine."
His parents, Rick and Sue Wanken of Hampton, read the first few paragraphs of what their son had written and knew it was something special. And powerful. Even disturbing.
They finished reading and decided their son's words should be shared with his friends and neighbors. His letter was published Sept. 19 in the Hampton Chronicle, with an invitation for people to write to Wanken in Iraq.
It continues:
"This young man, this young Marine, looks at his brothers in the eyes like a man and can feel the same fear as it boils off of him. His feet burn from the sand, his body aches from the patrolling, his head hurts from being on his 'A' game, his eyes are heavy from the lack of sleep. But this machine will not let down one minute.
"They say war isn't a game - or is it? People watch TV. People play video games and want it. But they don't know what nightmares are, what bodies smell like.
"Is it a cry for help? NO! A Marine will adapt and overcome anything that he passes through life. As war goes on, as men die, as men cry, as Marines grow, no matter what at the end of the day, at the end of the raid he shall CRY HAVOC. Just because he is worn out doesn't mean he's tired. He shall be prepared for the next day. He will never stop until the job is done and will keep moving for his family and friends, because some day he will see them again."
Nine days after his words appeared in the Hampton newspaper, the young Marine, a 2006 graduate of Hampton-Dumont High School, was seriously wounded, suffering eye, ear and other facial injuries.
"I got through it," he said Wednesday in a telephone interview from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. "I'm going to be OK."
The words he wrote in Fallujah?
"I was sitting on post one night and it just came into my head," Wanken said. "I started writing. I have a bunch of stuff I've written. This one, I guess I want people to realize war isn't fun and games."
It was 24 hours after his surgery. His jaw was wired shut and he was speaking through clenched teeth. He said he wasn't comfortable discussing details of how his injury occurred, because of security reasons.
He just wants his friends to know he'll be home, in Hampton, in a week or so, and expects to be recuperating there for about a month.
"I haven't been home in a while," he said. "I just want to get back to Iowa and hang out with my family."
After that ...
Well, Wanken had completed three months of his unit's seven-month deployment when he was wounded.
"I want to go back to Iraq when I'm well," he said. "I want to be with my Marines."
His parents understand.
"I'm proud of him," said his mother, who with her husband is with Wanken at Bethesda. "I'm proud of all of them in Iraq, and will be until they're all home. I'm proud of what he wrote, too."
It's 320 words from a thoughtful young Marine in the middle of a war. No spin. No politics. Just reality.
He hopes it makes people understand.
Columnist John Carlson can be reached at (515) 284-8204 or jcarlson@dmreg.com
Ellie